THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


u 


NEW  NOVELS 

BY 

JULIE   P.    SMITH. 


1.  —  •wTDO'w  GOLDSMITH'S 

2.  —  CHRIS  AND  OTHO. 

3.  —  THE  WIDOWEK. 

4.  —  THE  MARRIED  BELLE. 

5.  —  TEN  OLD  MAIDS. 

6.  —  COURTING  AND  FARMING.      [In  press.] 


"The  novels  by  this  author  are  of  unusual  merit,  un 
commonly  well  written,   clever,  and  character 
ized  by  great  wit  and  vivacity.    They 
are  growing  popular  and  more 
popular  every  day." 


All  issued  uniform  with  this  volume.    Price  $1.75  each, 
and  sent  by  mail,  postage  free,  on  receipt  of  price, 

BY 

G.  W.  CARLETON  &  CO.,  Publishers, 
New  York. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 


AN"  UNDILUTED  LOVE   STORY. 


BY 

CHRISTABEL  GOLDSMITH. 


'My  mother  chides  me  when  she  asks  me 

Why  those  tears  in  silence  move. 
I  could  tell  her,  but  I  dare  not, 
All  those  tears  are  for  my  love." 

GARDENER'S  Music  IN  NATURE. 


NEW    YOKK: 

G.    W.    Carleton    &   Co.,    Publishers. 

LONDON:    S.   LOW,  SON  &  CO., 
MDCCCLXXV. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875,  by 

G.  W.  CARLETON  &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


JOHN  F.  TROW  &  SON,  PRINTERS, 
205-213  EAST  I2TH  ST.,  NEW  YORK. 

Maclauchlan.  Stereotyper, 
145  &  147  Mulberry  St.,  near  Grand,  N.  Y. 


TO 

fjtr  Jlcar  SSIoman 

JENNIE  OWEN  KEIM, 

IN  MEMORY  OH 
SEVEN  LONG  YEARS  OF  COMPANIONSHIP  IN  LOVE  AND  LABOR, 

THE  AUTHOR  OFFERS  THIS  COD-CHILD. 


1293878 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  1 7 

CHAPTER  II 12 

CHAPTER  HI 29 

CHAPTER  IV 45 

CHAPTER  V 71 

CHAPTER  VI 78 

CHAPTER  VII 101 

CHAPTER  VIH 114 

CHAPTER  IX 131 

CHAPTER  X 144 

CHAPTER  XI 155 

CHAPTER  XII 1G5 

CHAPTER  XIII 1 75 

CHAPTER  XIV 182 

CHAPTER  XV 189 

CHAPTER  XVI 205 

CHAPTER  XVII 220 

CHAPTER  XVIII 243 

CHAPTER  XIX 25 1 

CHAPTER  XX 264 

CHAPTER  XXI ] '  289 

CHAPTER  XXII 897 

CHAPTER  XXIII 806 

CHAPTER  XXIV 317 

CHAPTER  XXV 325 

CHAPTER  XXVI .."    '  349 

CHAPTER  XXVII 365 

CHAPTER  XXVIII ....."    !  394 

CHAPTER  XXIX. ...."  "  493 

CHAPTER  XXX .'.  418 

CHAPTER  XXXI .428 

CHAPTER  XXXII ..........]..  439 

CHAPTER  XXXTTI ..]  "  443 


SHIFTLESS   FOLKS: 

AN  UNDILUTED  LOVE   STORY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"  Eub-a-dub,  dub ;  three  maids  in  a  tub." 

JHIS  narration  is  the  tub :  and  I  purpose  to  have 
three  heroines,  and  three  heroes.  Their  names 
are: 

MARY  McCnoss,  Spinster. 

PEACE  PELICAN,  " 

DOROTHEA  MULLIGAN,        " 
CYMBALINUS  ADOLPHUS  BROWN,  Bachelor. 
FRANCIS  HAYTHORNE,  " 

Louis  ALLWOOD,  " 

AMOS  DALEY,  " 

Besides  these  there  are  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCross,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pelican :  moreover,  as  Shakespeare  would 
have  it,  other  knights  and  attendant  spirits,  who,  being 
for  the  most  part  married  and  settled,  cannot  be  supposed 
capable  of  engrossing  the  attention  of  the  novel-reading 
world.  If  Mr.  Hale  should  look  over  my  list,  he  would 
probably  think  I  didn't  know  "how  to  do  it," — as  well 
as  himself,  for  I  have  set  down  more  than  my  pair  of 
trigemini.  But  I  did  it  on  purpose.  Do  you  suppose 


0  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

1  am  going  to  tell  which  is  which  on  the  first  page,  and 
then  roar  gently  as  a  suckling  dove  forever  after  ?     Hea 
ven  forbid !  I  have  a  higher  ideal  of  a  novel. 

In  this  day  of  exact  knowledge,  when  Agassiz  clamors 
of  bones  and  Huxley  of  protoplasm,  who  that  studies  the 
millions  in  the  stars,  and  the  millionths  in  the  globule, 
will  be  unfair  enough  to  drop  from  the  catalogue  of 
sciences  the  most  profoundly  important  of  all — human- 
soul  life? 

How  awful  is  the  task  of  the  heart  of  the  historian, 
poet  or  novelist !  and  the  two  gifts  are  so  twin  to  each 
other,  that  few  profess  the  one  without  dabbling  in  its 
complement. 

To  understand  their  fellows,  is  the  pursuit  of  all  men. 
To  know  life,  feel  its  experiences,  see  its  sights,  is  the 
dominant  longing  of  the  young.  What  reverence  did  not 
our  ten  years  of  humanity  give  us  for  Pa's  silly  cousin, 
who  had  been  disappointed  in  love  ! 

The  novelist  endeavors  to  make  life's  mysteries  plain. 
He  it  is  who  delineates  the  passion,  the  sorrow,  the 
strength ;  who  photographs  the  pangs  of  mankind  ;  who 
teaches  people  to  know  and  love  each  other  through  the 
sympathy  of  a  kindred,  now  revealed,  humanity.  It  is 
to  the  novel  that  we  go  for  our  life  pictures.  In  our 
favorite  characters  we  are  unconsciously  fashioned.  Na 
tional  taste,  politics,  religion,  are  more  moulded  in  the 
masses  by  the  novel,  than  any  other  one  means  of  educa 
tion. 

There  is  no  sorrow  so  deep,  no  terror  so  ominous, 
that  the  novelist  dare  not  depict  it. 

To  lodge  a  true  principle  in  the  hard  heads  of  man 
kind  through  the  unsuspicious  sympathy  of  their  hearts, 
to  help  us  avoid  or  bear  misery,  is  the  noblest  sphere 
of  novelist  or  poet ;  and  the  trifler  who  mangles  or  dis- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  9 

torts  truth  must  e'en  see  his  work  in  human  souls  burnt 
out  in  fire  of  repentance  and  agony  when  he  might  have 
given  the  world  a  torch  to  light  it  on  to  good. 

There  is  no  calling  which  does  not  in  its  complete 
development  touch  infinity — and  therefore  God ; — or  his 
opposite. 

Nor  need  the  artist,  who  cares  rather  for  art  than 
humanity,  beauty  than  moral  beauty,  be  outraged  hereby. 
For  to  present  a  just  type  of  beauty  is  to  show  forth 
God ;  who,  however,  knew  no  better  way  to  reveal  Him 
self  to  us  than  to  become  man. 

So  from  these  poles  of  dissent  we  travel  around  the 
same  circle.  Who  best  shows  man  reveals  God ;  to  re 
veal  God  is  to  instruct  man.  It  is  all  one.  All  good 
things  tend  to  one  end.  But  the  poet  and  novelist  are 
nothing  more  than  professors  of  the  science  to  whose 
province  belong  three  eras — passion  or  motive  ;  action ; 
and  condition  or  result,  as  you  please  to  call  it.  Which 
after  all  are  but  three  stages  of  one  thing — the  fretting  of 
the  divinity  in  man  against  his  carnal  limitations. 

People  can  never  judge  of  the  worth  of  a  novel  to  any 
one  but  themselves,  because  its  value  to  a  man  is  always 
exactly  measured  by  the  points  where  instinct,  or  instinct 
worked  into  experience,  touches  the  thing  in  hand. 

"  O  dear,"  said  Peace  Pelican,  settling  herself  to 
"Barbara's  History;"  "one  can  never  properly  appre 
ciate  a  novel  till  one's  been  in  love  and  travelled  in  Eu 
rope,  and  I  haven't  done  either  !  " 

I  am,  as  you  know,  Christabel  Goldsmith.  I  tell  the 
story.  I'm  not  in  it,  because  Serena,  as  the  saying  is, 
nabbed  me  in  my  innocont  youth,  and  put  me  in  hers ; 
so,  when  long  reflection  on  the  above  thoughts  set  me  to 
writing,  my  best  resource  was  gone,  and  I  had  to  fall 
back  on  my  friends. 
1* 


10 


SUFITLESS  FOLKS. 


The  people  in  this  book  are  "  Eeal  Folks,"  and  to  my 
mind  shiftless  withal.  But  I  like  them  on  that  account. 
There  was  a  time  when  I  was  shiftless  myself.  That  is 
one  reason  why  I  refused  the  offers  of  sittings  from  my 
present  dear  half  dozen,  and  chose  my  characters  from 
the  companions  of  my  early  youth,  who,  thank  God, 
have  not  failed  me  in  my  maturer  age. 

I  have  no  objection  to  telling  you  how  I  became  ac 
quainted  with  them. 

Mary  McCross  is  my  own  cousin.  Her  mother  and 
mine  were  Miranda  and  Hannah  Price  respectively.  I 
was  very  young  when  they  quarrelled,  but  I  remember 
dining  at  Fir  Covert,  and  seeing  Mollie,  a  little  girl  about 
my  own  age,  with  childish  flaxen  curls  and  blue  eyes. 
She  stood  up  in  a  state  of  open  mutiny  on  the  step  of  her 
high  chair,  and  called  for  chicken  pie,  and  rejoined, "  Keep 
'em  up,  Pop,"  with  immovable  resolution,  when  her  father 
commanded  her  to  be  seated.  Her  will  was  like  iron,  and 
is  to  this  day.  People  with  soft  brown  hair  and  blue 
eyes  frequently  have  such — especially  when  they  possess 
a  pleasant  smile,  a  tolerably  even  cut  forehead,  not  over, 
nor  under,  common  breadth  and  height,  and  what  we  call 
English  complexion.  Mollie's  infant  features  gradually 
took  on  these  peculiarities,  or  perhaps  lacks  of  peculiarity, 
witlx  womanhood.  And  when  I  met  her  again  in  after 
life,  I  knew  her  just  as  well  as  you  do,  now  I  have  intro 
duced  her  to  your  notice. 

There  was  a  little  boy,  a  ward  of  Uncle  McCross,  in 
the  house  the  day  we  dined  there.  He  lay  flat  on  the 
ground  reading,  with  his  fingers  stuffed  in  his  ears  most 
of  the  time.  After  dinner  he  brought  me  some  bumble 
bees  he  caught  fearlessly  in  his  hands,  and  entertained 
me  with  the  Pedler's  Quickstep," performed  on  the  black 
keys  of  the  piuuo,  by  means  of  both  forefingers.  Mollie, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  H 

who  had  not  mastered  this  scientific  performance,  stood 
meanwhile  at  his  elbow,  in  hearty  admiration. 

I  met  Peace  Pelican  at  Herr  Groen veldt's  school,  which 
we  both  attended.  She  was  a  general  favorite,  and  fore 
most  in  all  matters  of  fun — took  a  prize  in  mathematics. 

I  don't  know  anything  first  hand  about  Francis  Hay- 
thorne's  youth.  It  has  been  whispered  that  his  mother, 
a  devoted  house-keeper,  brought  him  up  on  "  Helen  Mor 
ris,"  "Mamma's  Bible  Stories,"  and  "Tender  Truths  for 
Tender  Minds."  He  wore  blue  and  white  calico  aprons 
till  he  was  nine  years  old,  roundabouts  and  slippers  till 
he  was  turned  fifteen,  had  a  tutor,  and  a  pony,  whose  legs 
were  so  short  that  he  used  to  take  his  feet  from  the  stir 
rups  and  walk  up  the  steep  places.  His  mother,  too,  en 
tertained  a  horror  of  subjecting  him  to  contamination 
from  plebeians  and  boys,  and  was  a  shining  light  in  the 
mothers'  meeting. 

It  was  some  years  after  the  Fir  Covert  visit  that  I  first 
saw  Little  Doppy — more  correctly,  Miss  Dorothea  Mulli 
gan.  The  rain  had  fallen  heavily  all  day,  but,  clearing 
at  night,  papa  and  I  ventured  a  walk  down  through  Sylla 
bub.  Before  a  puddle  of  lovely  mud,  black  as  jet  and 
thick  as  pudding,  stood  this  heroine — eying  it  with  long 
ing.  Her  cheeks  were  very  red,  her  short  hair  stood  in 
ringlets  all  over  her  pretty  head,  her  pink  gingham  dress 
wasn't  buttoned  up  behind,  and  disclosed  white  plump 
shoulders.  She  swung  her  fat  little  arms,  said  "  one  ! 
two !  three !  "  and  plumped  straight  into  the  beautiful 
gutter.  Then  she  waded  out,  and,  pointing  to  the  adher 
ing  soil  with  exulting  glee,  cried,  "  See  my  new  shoes  !  " 
Thereupon  a  rough,  black-bearded  man,  with  a  pipe  in 
his  mouth,  took  her  into  the  "  Solomon  Rodgers,"  kick 
ing  and  screaming,  and  Shut  the  door. 

Miss  Ahuira  Petingil  has  always  been  the  village  tail- 


j2  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

oress.      The  other  folks  came  into  my  knowledge  pre 
cisely  as  they  will  into  yours. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"And  will  you  have  her,  Robin,  to  be  your  wedded  wife  ?  " 
"  Yes,  I  will,"  says  Robin,  "  and  love  her  all  iny  life." 
"  And  will  you  have  him,  Jennie,  your  husband  now  to  be  ?  " 
"  Yes,  I  will,"  says  Jennie,  "  and  love  him  heartily." 

|  T  had  all  come  about  as  herein  stated,  and  now 
the  pair  were  beginning  to  weave  plans  and 
promises,  and  hopes  and  reminiscences,  in  that 
happy,  inextricable  tangle  that  lovers  always  will  weave, 
and  I  for  one  rejoice  to  have  them. 

Throughout  my  tolerably  eventful  career,  I  have  been 
the  chosen  repository  of  my  friends'  love  affairs,  whether 
because  I  have  happily  settled  my  own,  or  because  my 
vivid  interest  in  such  matters  paves  the  way. 

Of  all  the  young  folks  who  have  rested  their  joys  and 
sorrows  in  my  intact  (of  course!)  confidence,  these  two 
come  nearest  to  my  heart.  But  they  never  gave  me 
more  than  the  shell  of  their  affairs — the  kernel  seemed 
too  sacred  in  their  eyes,  even  for  speech.  I  have  seen 
trembling  lovers  and  exultant  lovers,  proud  lovers  and 
humble  lovers,  lovers-  who  said  their  future  spouses' 
goodness  was  a  constant  reproach  to  them,  lovers  whose 
conduct  was  sure  to  be  a  reproach  to  their  spouses.  The 
two  people  before  us  do  not  come  iuto  this  list.  Indeed, 
while  I  am  on  the  subject,  let  me  -say  that  I  am  critical  in 
lovo.  I  have  no  faith  iu  the  "  woful  sonnet  to  his  mis- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  13 

tress' .eyebrow"  class.  I  abominate  lovers'  pains,  and 
darts  and  follies.  True  love,  to  ine,  means  perfect 
strength,  and  is  therefore  perfect  peace.  Whether  Louis 
and  Mollie  realized  it,  is  a  different  matter.  Further, 
perhaps,  I  doubted  their  wisdom  in  loving  at  all.  What 
right  had  two  gentle,  modest,  retiring  people,  who  neither 
of  them  knew  more  of  the  world  than  could  be  gathered 
from  the  simplest  of  village  lives,  thus  to  set  out  to  bat 
tle  the  storms  of  life  together  ?  One  is  reminded  of  the 
"  children  in  the  wood  :  " 

"  These  pretty  babes,  with  hand  in  hand, 
Went  wandering  up  and  down." 

And  so  on  to  a  finale  of  starvation  on  huckleberries,  and 
covering  of  oak  leaves,  which  last  about  Roaring  River 
are  apt  to  be  a  little  worm-eaten. 

Yet,  after  all,  why  should  I  trouble  for  them  ?  In 
love's  sweet  old  story,  which  every  one  lives  (or  dreams  of 
living)  just  once  in  a  lifetime,  there  is  a  mighty  quality 
of  hope  and  God-so-orders-it-ness. 

Touching  the  place  where  all  this  moralizing  has  gone 
on,  it  is  as  homely  as  tradition  paints  the  cradle  of  true 
love — being  nowhere  else  than  Mrs.  McCross'  kitchen. 
And  the  actors,  who  are  too  much  absorbed  in  each  other 
to  heed  our  scrutiny,  are  your  old  childish  friends,  Louis 
Allwood  and  Mary  McCross — both  at  your  service.  The 
concomitants  are  fit  enough — a  tabby  cat  purring  content 
edly  in  the  window,  a  tall  clock  ticking  behind  the  door, 
a  great  pan  of  flour  set  near  the  moulding-board  and 
rolling-pins  on  the  snowy  table,  a  maple-wood  fire  crack 
ling  in  the  open  stove. 

I  confess,  however,  that  my  interest  is  chiefly  in  the  oc 
cupants  of  the  unpoetic,  feather-pillowed,  chintz-covered 
settle — one  head  laid  so  close  to  the  other  that  the  short 


14  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

rin^s  of  his  nut-brown  hair  swept  her  smooth  braids 
scarcely  a  shade  lighter. 

"  So  you  take  me  for  better  and  for  worse  ?  "  in  a  half- 
proud,  half-anxious  whisper. 

"  Yes,  Louis,"  laying  the  face  she  raised  to  look  into 
her  lover's  eyes  back  on  his  shoulder  composedly. 

"  Through  good  report  and  evil  report  ?  "  with  a  smile  at 
the  possibility  that  he  would  ever  bear  any  repute  but  good. 

Mary  straightened  herself,  took  both  his  hands  in  hers, 
and  looking  right  into  his  soul  answered  solemnly : 
"  Through  good  report  and  evil  report,  and  sickness  and 
sorrow,  and  death."  She  was  putting  her  whole  purpose 
into  the  compact  he  was  too  much  a  boy  to  fully  compre 
hend.  You  could  see  it  in  every  gesture,  every  expression 
of  her  earnest  face.  Even  when  she  broke  the  pause  that 
followed  her  declaration,  by  archly  humming  the  old  song, 

"But  my  heart  will  be  with  you  wherever  you  may  go  ; 
Can  you  look  me  in  the  face  and  say  the  same,  Jeannot  ?  " 

it  was  a  mere  surface  ripple  in  the  steadfast  current 
of  a  resolve  that  carried  with  it  all  the  forces  of  her  life. 

But  he  was  earnest  too — as  far  as  life  had  knit  him 
into  capacity  for  it.  He  was  truthful,  and  sweet  in  his 
boyish  affection,  and  enthusiastic — with  the  easy  spring 
ing  into  being  of  purposes  that  he  had  not  followed  into 
action  enough  even  to  tell  their  nature. 

Boy  or  man,  the  young  girl  was  satisfied ;  and,  when 
he  drew  her  pretty  head  before  him,  and  gazed  a  long 
time  into  her  pleasant  eyes — so  intent  now  in  their  out 
look  at  vowed  and  faithful  love,  he  saw  a  depth  of  some 
thing  behind  their  blue,  that  made  him  strong  for  good, 
though  he  only  knew  of  it  that  it  was  there  for  him. 

Fidus  Achates  told  me,  the  other  day,  that  civil  con 
tracts  and  weddings  had  little  to  do  with  true  marriage. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  15 

"  That,"  said  he,  "  is  the  simple  yielding  of  two  souls  to 
each  other,  so  that  they  are  henceforth  one  ;  the  rest  is 
only  a  blessing  upon  this  deed." 

Perhaps  our  pair  felt  it.  They  were  silent  a  long  while, 
each  thinking  his  own  thoughts.  By  and  by  the  door 
opened  and  admitted  Deacon  McCross. 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?  "  asked  he,  in  rather  short  tones 
for  so  long  a  man. 

The  girl  looked  up  with  a  strong  glad  light  in  her  face. 
"  Making  love,  father,"  said  she  quietly. 

Louis  rose  with  timid  respect.  "  I  have  been  asking 
your  daughter  to  be  my  wife ; "  and  the  delicate  color 
which  had  faded  from  his  cheeks  flushed  and  paled  more 
than  once  before  he  finished  his  explanation.  "  We  have 
been  like  brother  and  sister  all  our  lives.  We  want  to 
be  something  more.  You  will  not  refuse  us  ?  " 

The  Deacon  twisted  uneasily  under  his  daughter's 
glance.  "  Not  as  I  know  of,"  said  he,  looking  very  un 
comfortable.  "  Her  mother  '11  make  an  awful  time." 

The  trio  gazed  at  each  other  in  silence.  His  words 
were  too  true  for  prophecy.  Louis  was  hurt.  Mollie 
resolved,  her  father  weak  and  hesitating. 

The  girl  spoke  first.  "  Perhaps  she  won't  mind  so 
much  if  you  don't,  dear,"  said  she,  hopefully. 

"  Perhaps  she  won't,"  answered  the  Deacon  in  a  blank 
tone. 

"  Mrs.  McCross  may  be  more  reconciled  when  she 
knows  how  my  prospects  have  improved,"  began  the  strip 
ling,  in  eager  longing  that  an  impossible  joy  should  occur. 
As  the  Deacon's  meek,  wrinkled  face,  and  pale  blue  eyes 
persisted  in  their  expression  of  stolid  disbelief,  he  stopped 
nervously.  Mollie  thereupon  slipped  her  hand  into  his  to 
reassure  him,  and  he  proceeded  with  more  confidence  :  t{  I 
have  accepted  a  position  in  the  Pelicans'  store  in  Top 


IQ  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Town,  and  Charley's  father  offers  me  a  partnership  at  the 
end  of  three  years — if  I  like  the  position  and  seem  fitted 
for  it." 

"  Liquor  trade  is  money-makin'  business,"  said  Mr. 
McOross,  relaxing.  "  Them  Pelicans  knows  what's 
what.  But  my  wife  ain't  agoin'  to  be  satisfied  with  no 
expectations  !  " 

"  I  shall  do  my  best,"  answered  Louis.  "  I  will  suc 
ceed — only  give  me  time." 

Did  you  ever  see  a  young  rooster  try  to  crow  when 
the  old  one  was  present  ?  What  a  disagreement  arose 
directly,  and  how,  sans  tail  feathers  and  comb,  did  the  poor 
little  fowl  limp  away,  followed  by  the  exultant  clarion  of 
his  conqueror.  I  have  noticed  something  of  the  same 
instinct  in  the  dealings  of  older  toward  young  men. 
They  snub  them,  criticise  them,  put  them  down  in  the 
presence  of  the  people  they  admire  most,  and  rejoice  in 
it.  In  my  day  I  have  seen  a  great  many  boys  started  in 
stores.  I  like  boys.  They  are  energetic,  honest,  and 
free-spoken.  A  great  deal  of  unpleasant  work  can  be, 
and  always  is,  got  out  of  them.  Yet  I  never  asked  after 
one  of  these  earnest  beginners  in  life,  but  his  employer 
answered — not,  "  He  does  his  best ;  he'll  learn  ;  "  but, 
"Oh,  he  does  tolerably;  he  makes  mistakes ;  it  takes  a 
great  deal  of  time  to  teach  him  ;  he'll  know  more  when  he's 
older ;  "  or,  meanest  of  all,  "  I  may  make  a  man  of  him 
some  day ;  one  never  gets  to  the  end  of  a  business  edu 
cation." 

You  contemptible  old  humbug.  Don't  he  run  your 
errands,  handle  your  goods,  stand  your  ill-temper,  fill 
all  the  gaps  in  everything,  keep  good-humored,  and  wor 
ship  "  our  store  "  ?  What  more  could  he  do  if  you  asked 
him  ? 

Even  Deacon  McCross,  whose  long  discipline  in  life 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  17 

ought  to  have  taught  him  better,  turned  combative, 
when  Louis  tried  to  talk  business  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  knew  about  it. 

"  Young  man,"  said  he,  putting  on  a  pair  of  large,  sil 
ver-bowed  spectacles,  and  bestowing  a  look  of  superior 
wisdom  on  his  wretched  victim,  "  ef  there's  one  thing  I 
hate  and  despise,  its  shiftlessness,  an'  Mirandy  sez  you 
ain't  nowise  free  from  it." 

Meanwhile  Mollie  sets  the  table — the  McCrosses  are 
as  usual  without  servants — and  turns  her  attention  to 
the  neglected  biscuits,  which  go  into  the  oven  in  no  time 
and  come  out  the  perfection  of  that  indigestible  dainty. 

Mollie  was  not  small  nor  large,  neither  slender  nor 
stout,  neither  beautiful  nor  homely.  She  was  refined, 
perfectly  free  from  self-consciousness,  and  had  never  had 
a  week's  illness  in  her  life.  She  was  therefore  graceful. 
Perhaps  the  one  adjective  that  describes  her  is  "  pleas 
ant."  She  was  pleasant  to  look  upon,  pleasant  to  hear, 
pleasant  as  a  companion,  and  like  any  other  pleasant 
thing,  had  nothing  intrusive  about  her.  She  might  have 
been  an  indigo  bird,  or  a  Java  sparrow — bating  the 
melancholy  creak,  or  a  forget-me-not.  Ah !  now  we 
have  it ! — a  personified,  modest,  honest,  stout-hearted, 
blue-eyed  forget-me-not,  describes  her  exactly. 

She  glided  about  the  place  in  a  deft,  easy  way — from 
dining-room  to  kitchen,  from  closet  to  cupboard — setting 
down  the  dishes  one  by 'one,  just  where  they  belonged, 
and  where  they  stayed  with  a  contented  appearance,  as  if 
it  was  a  real  pleasure  to  be  where  she  put  them.  Her 
father  watched  her — a  fond,  proud  look  glorifying  his 
wrinkled  old  face.  She  was  the  one  love  of  his  heart. 

Mrs.  McCross  had  gone  to  tea  and  a  social  prayer-meet 
ing  at  Squire  Hitchcock's,  so  Mollie's  table  was  only  laid 
for  three,  and,  in  spite  of  the  business  ordeal  poor  Louis 


18  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

was  passing,  they  had  a  cosy  supper.  Mrs.  McCross 
said  her  husband  drank  his  tea  strong  enough  to  bear  up 
an  egg.  To-night  his  daughter  had  brewed  it  green  as  an 
emerald,  and  fragrant  as  a  clover-field  in  full  bloom.  If 
Mollie  had  a  weakness,  it  was  for  genuine  gunpowder 
without  sugar.  Her  father  and  she  found  immense  com 
fort  in  their  kindred  dissipation — the  maternal  head  tak 
ing  frequent  occasion  to  stigmatize  their  decoction  as 
"  Devil's  broth,"  and  generally  assuming  her  seat  at 
breakfast  with  the  remark  : 

"  Well,  Teapot,  I  suppose  you've  got  to  fill  up  your 
stomach  and  addle  your  brains  as  usual." 

Under  the  exhilarating  influence  of  his  draught,  the 
old  gentleman  waxed  eloquent  upon  his  favorite  theme. 
"  There  is  two  kinds  of  shiftlessness,"  quoth  he,  dangling 
his  tea-cup  upon  his  thumb  and  forefinger  in  the  charac 
teristic  attitude  taken  by  a  lover  of  the  drug — just  at 
such  a  slant  that  the  contents  remained  inside  by  sheer 
defiance  to  the  laws  of  gravitation ;  "  leastwise  there's 
more,  but  two  especially.  It's  my  belief  that  the  raft  of 
folks  is  shiftless  in  something.  Ef  they  ain't  in  one  they 
be  in  another.  There's  shiftlessness  in  business  cm'  shift 
lessness  in  piety.  It's  darned  shiftless  of  a  man  to  waste 
the  opportunities  of  the  gospel."  Here  Louis  looked  un 
comfortable,  but  the  Deacon  didn't  intend  to  be  personal, 
and  ambled  on  thoughtfully,  "  Yes,  throw  them  by  year 
in  an'  year  out,  an'  not  get  religion  ;  an'  its  wuss'n  that 
not  to  meet  a  sixty-day  note.  Ef  you  bear  this  well  in 
mind,  children,  your  firm  '11  always  have  a  good  name  on 
'Change  Street  an'  Church  Street ;  an'  them  two  is  all  any 
body  needs," 

Here  the  tea-cup,  which  Mollie  had  been  sometime 
eying  with  painful  fascination,  turned  clear  over,  and  in 
flicted  a  beauty  spot  on  Mrs.  McCross'  beloved  table- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  19 

cloth,  but  the  originator  only  sighed  sorrowfully,  and,  ob 
taining  a  fresh  supply  of  the  treacherous  mixture,  rein 
stated  it  in  its  former  position,  where  it  wiggled  and 
wavered  as  before. 

During  his  discourse  the  lovers  held  a  kind  of  mute 
conversation,  in  which  every  simple  action  was  made  elo 
quent  of  their  happiness.  In  a  true  wooing  all  things 
become  conductors  to  the  electric  fluid  of  love. 

"  Louis,"  said  Mr.  McCross,  dismounting  from  his 
hobby,  "  where  are  you  going  to  board  ?  " 

"With  Charley,  at  the  Pelicans'.  They  offered  to 
take  me." 

The  Deacon,  who  had  a  belief  common  to  the  old  that 
a  dish  of  bread  and  water  and  the  soft  side  of  a  stone  is 
proper  fare  for  the  rising  generation  of  his  own  sex, 
looked  as  forbidding  as  his  lank  and  meek  benevolence 
could  compass. 

"  Is  that  economy  ?  "  he  began ;  "  when  I  was  a  farmer's 
boy,  and  went  to  New  York  to  make  my  living,  I  owned 
just  one  suit  of  clothes  and  slept  under  the  counter. 
For  three  months  all  I  had  to  eat  was  beans  ;  and  I  put 
my  first  wages  at  interest  and  began  my  fortune." 

Louis  had  been  very  proud  of  his  arrangements,  and, 
boy  like,  looked  forward  to  relating  them  to  Mollie  with 
eager  enthusiasm.  But  now  his  face  fell  and  he  began 
to  think  it  was  all  a  mistake,  and  himself  not  fit  to  make 
plans.  In  short,  the  golden  clouds  about  his  sun  of  suc 
cess  had  faded  into  dismal  gray.  He  hadn't  even  cour 
age  to  defend  the  course  he  had  taken,  and  sat  nibbling 
a  biscuit  he  had  forgotten  to  butter,  with  downcast 
glances,  and  bright,  evanescent  color. 

Mollie  had  appeared  far  from  happy  when  the  Pelican 
partnership  obtruded  itself  into  the  conversation ;  but 
she  would  not  have  him  put  down.  If  she  disagreed  in 


20  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

private,  it  was  all  the  more  reason  why  he  should  show 
a  bold  front  in  face  of  the  adversary.  She  therefore 
offered  him  peach  preserves  with  her  brightest  smile, 
and  proceeded  to  ask  every  imaginable  question  about 
the  Pelican  household,  and  the  business,  and  Top  Town, 
and  his  ideas  of  a  proper  financial  basis  of  operation ; 
under  which  deferential  treatment  he  once  more  recovered 
his  equanimity,  and  answered  with  cheerful  resolution. 

Even  Deacon  McCross  relaxed  his  disparaging  expres 
sion,  and  joined  in  the  talk  with  an  air  of  interest  and 
approval. 

"  I  remember  Charley  Pelican,"  said  he,  setting  down 
his  tea-cup  for  freedom  of  gesture ;  "  he  was  a  great  boy, 
up  to  anything  !  " 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  very  traits  which  bring  a 
lad  into  an  old  man's  detestation,  reflect  a  kind  of  sav 
age  credit  on  him  when  he  becomes  of  age. 

"  They  used  to  call  him  Seed  Pelican,"  went  on  the 
Deacon,  rubbing  his  wrinkled  forehead  thoughtfully ;  "he 
put  apple-seeds  on  the  stove  at  protracted  meeting.  I 
recollect  it  well.  Miss  Goldsmith  was  there,  and  her 
husband,  young  Fred.  Deacon  Williams  had  took  a 
notion  to  repeat  the  genealogy  of  Christ,  to  show  off  his 
memory,  and  the  seeds  kept  poppin'  like  a  chorus  at  the 
end  of  every  line.  Then  Deacon  Proddy  rose  to  pray,  an' 
all  the  while  the  seeds  kep'  on  explodin',  till,  after  he'd 
ben  laborin'  full  fifteen  minutes  by  the  clock,  he  said 
he'd  be  brief,  as  some  evil-minded  person  was  disturbin' 
the  meetin'.  You  see  he'd  been  licensed  to  preach  once, 
an'  was  always  itchin'  to  knock  his  elbows  agin  the 
pulpit." 

The  narrator  picked  his  teeth  reflectively,  a  few  min 
utes,  while  Mollie  entered  upon  a  disagreeable  train  of 
thought  relative  to  Louis'  probable  treatment  at  the 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  21 

hands  of  this  incorrigible,  and  the  object  of  her  solici 
tude  recollected  how  Charley  was  the  best  hand  to  skitter 
stones  in  his  whole  knowledge,  and  how  no  one  could  be 
gin  to  match  him  at  marbles,  or  base  ball,  or  wrestling ; 
the  old  man  finally  relaxing  into  a  chuckle  as  he  be 
thought  him  of  a  certain  day,  when  the  thin,  lean  fish 
monger  of  the  village,  John  Smith  by  name,  found  his 
too  generalistic  door-plate  reduced  to  more  particularity 
by  addition  of  "  Lamprey -eel  "  in  red  letters,  the  reflective 
Charley  being  the  author  of  the  amendment.  Supper 
having  been  now  concluded,  Deacon  McCross  stretched 
out  his  now  not  over  stout  legs,  shaped  indeed  a  good 
deal  like  riding  whips,  with  the  tassel  for  the  foot,  and 
throwing  a  red-and-yellow  handkerchief  over  his  head, 
prepared  for  a  nap.  Suddenly  an  idea  struck  him. 
"  Daughter,"  said  he,  sitting  up  straight,  still  covered 
with  his  brilliant  head-gear,  "  let's  sing  a  hymn." 

"  Do,"  answered  she  gayly,  and  came  near  to  give  him 
a  loving  little  pat.  "  Shall  it  be  China,  or  Windham  ?  " 
Mollie  always  aided  and  abetted  her  father  in  his  bursts 
of  gayety,  never  failing  to  look  at  him  fondly  when  he 
thus  took  courage,  of  a  tremulous  order  at  best,  to  as 
sert  his  right  to  be  jovial,  and  she  frequently  assured 
him  that  she  thought  him  very  cunning,  which  she  truly 
did. 

He  reflected — gazing  with  comfortable  benevolence 
from  beneath  the  pendant  ends  of  his  head-gear  at  the 
two  young  people,  who  in  putting  away  the  tea  things 
had  just  bidden  themselves,  quite  unnecessarily,  behind 
the  closet  door.  "  Neither,"  he  observed  at  length, 
brightening  still  more  under  the  influence  of  a  happy 
thought ;  "  it's  a  trifle  different,  and  quite  appropriate  ; 
your  mother  and  I  used  to  sing  it  when  we  were  courtin' 
Saturday  nights." 


22  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

So  saying,  lie  brought  from  the  book -case,  with  fond 
pride,  a  certain  venerable  and  battered  singing-book, 
bearing  "  White  and  King"  conspicuously  printed  on  the 
cover,  and  still  enveloped  in  the  mists  of  those  youthful 
memories,  peered  over  his  glasses  a  long  time  at  the  dia 
bolical  patent  notes.  Then  he  adjusted  his  children  011 
either  side  his  rocking  chair,  and  named  the  tune — 
Greenland — solemnly  beating  time  with  his  thumb. 

As  you  may  not  have  the  pleasure  of  familiarity  with 
*'  White  and  King,"  I  will  subjoin  this  ancient  ditty : 

"  "When  Adam  was  created,  he  dwelt  in  Eden's  shade, 
As  Moses  has  related,  before  a  bride  was  made  ; 
He  had  no  consolation,  but  seemed  as  one  alone, 
Till  to  his  admiration  he  found  he'd  lost  a  bone. 

"  This  woman  was  not  taken  from  Adam's  head,  we  know, 
And  she  must  not  rule  o'er  him,  it's  evidently  so. 
Great  was  his  exultation  to  have  her  by  his  side; 
Great  was  his  elevation  to  have  a  loving  bride. 

"  This  woman  was  not  taken  from  Adam's  feet,  we  see  ; 
And  she  must  not  be  abused,  the  meaning  seems  to  be. 
This  woman  she  was  taken  from  near  to  Adam' s  heart, 
By  which  we  are  directed  that  they  should  never  part." 

There  had  been  some  small  by -play  during  the  singing. 
First  the  good  Deacon  smiled  a  curiously  compassionate 
smile  at  the  young  man,  and  poked  him  jocularly  with 
his  left  forefinger,  his  right  hand  being  occupied  in 
marking  the  accents.  Then  Louis  sniffed  significantly  at 
Mollie  when  submission  was  discussed  in  the  second 
verse,  and  their  leader  also  turned  to  her  with  some 
emphasis. 

Then  Mollie  reached  round  behind  her  father's  chair, 
and  revenged  herself  on  her  lover  by  a  little  vicious 
pinch,  as  his  duties  came  under  observation,  and  all 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  23 

three  burst  into  a  delighted  giggle  when  the  happy  con 
summation  was  reached. 

"  Tli  ere  !  "  said  the  Deacon,  authoritatively  tapping 
the  cover  with  his  spectacles.  "  That's  the  talk  for  me  ; 
an'  all  I've  got  to  say  is,  that  in  this  undertaking  which 
you've  entered  upon,  I  hope  you'll  be  successful." 

The  next  day  was  warm  and  hazy,  and  Sunday  besides. 
That  is  how  the  pair  came  to  be  spending  it  together  in 
the  orchard. 

"  Louis,"  said  Mollie,  knitting  up  a  memorial  of  Pastor 
Harms,  Wichern,  and  Kaiserworth.  "  I  long  for  work — 
real  work.  I  envy  you  your  path  among  opposing  cir 
cumstances.  When  your  life  is  over,  you  will  have 
borne  mankind's  burdens  and  accomplished  something, 
and  reared  a  better  pillar  than  Absalom's — a  structure 
tangible,  created,  done  !  " 

"  Done  brown  ?  "  asked  the  other,  looking  lazily  up  at 
her  earnest  face  from  the  support  of  his  crossed  hands,  as 
he  lay  stretched  out  on  the  grass. 

"  Not  exactly,"  said  Mollie,  too  much  interested  in  her 
thought  to  care  for  his  quirks.  "  I  think  there  is  so 
much  difference  between  real  work,  and  such  as  tires  us 
out,  and  never  betters  ourselves  or  any  one  else.  It 
seems  to  me  that  women  don't  get  the  right  notion  of 
life  as  men  do.  I  would  be  willing  to  suffer  a  great  deal 
if  I  could  only  give  the  world  a  very  small  good.  I  can't 
seem  to  make  a  little  study,  a  little  music,  a  little 
German,  a  little  sewing,  and  all  the  rest  idling,  come  into 
my  ideal  of  life." 

"  You  ought  to  live  for  your  friends,"  suggested  Louis  ; 
much  as  to  say,  "  me  for  instance." 

"  You  can't,"  answered  Mollie,  with  the  air  of  one 
who  has  travelled  wearily  through  an  unsatisfactory 
train  of  thought.  "  They  can't  live  for  you,  nor  you  for 


24  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

them— as  an  end.  The  minute  you  try  it,  you  prey  on 
your  friend's  life,  and  lie  on  yours.  Friendship  is  the 
richness  of  two  busy  lives  flowing  into  each  other; 
thereby  both  are  strengthened  for  their  own  duties  and 
battles.  What  I  want  is  work ;  I  must  have  it,  or  I  can't 
be  your  helpmeet." 

"  O  dear,"  said  Louis,  looking  at  her  with  a  mixture 
of  admiration  and  compassion.  "  Why  aren't  you 
satisfied  to  sit  here  passive,  and  sway  with  the  shadows, 
and  be  quiet,  listening  to  the  beautiful  voices  the  earth 
has  for  you,  and  not  fret,  out  of  harmony  with  it  all.  It 
makes  me  perfectly  happy  to  lie  so  beside  you.  I  never 
want  the  day  to  end." 

This  was  very  sweet.  Mollie  smiled  at  the  dreamer  ; 
but  she  would  not  be  put  off.  "  Because,"  she  said 
eagerly,  "  you  are  taking  a  man's  earned  rest  after  toil ; 
and  the  charms  of  the  day  are  half  by  contrast  with  the 
labor  that  makes  you  a  firm-muscled  man.  But  you 
would  despise  a  life  of  lounging  under  the  apple-trees, 
with  no  better  end  or  purpose,  and  so  do  I." 

"  So  I  should,"  said  the  young  man,  with  kindling  eye, 
half  rising  as  he  spoke.  "  I  too  wish  to  be  something,  a 
man  among  men.  I  want  to  earn  wealth  and  a  home,  and 
put  you  in  it.  And  then  we  will  go  onward  together. 
But  I  think  you  are  wrong  about  the  German  and  music 
and  culture,  they  are  worthy  aims  for  a  life's  devotion. 
Think  of  Orlandus  Lassus'  epitaph :  '  Here  lies  the 
weaiy  who  refreshed  the  weary.'  " 

"  Well,  perhaps,"  said  Mollie  doubtfully,  and  then 
brightening.  "  Yes,  to  excel,  to  help  others  on,  to 
identify  one's  self  with,  as  a  master ;  but  not  to  dabble  in, 
Louis ;  not  to  dabble  in.  What  I  would  choose  would  be 
to  minister  to  my  fellows  as  an  end,  and  then  bend  every 
department  of  culture  to  its  aid.  I  have  been  thinking 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  25 

a  great  deal  about  Enoch.  You  remember  Enoch  ?  He 
walked  with  God,  and  was  not,  for  God  took  him.  The 
idea  haunted  me,  till  I  bad  to  write  it  out." 

"I  don't  like  Enoch,"  said  Louis,  perversely.  "I 
want  to  have  a  good  time — and  that  dreadful  suggestion 
of  being  hurried  from  danger  to  desert — and  desert  to 
danger — by  a  power  outside  of  one's  self,  is  too  repugnant 
to  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  I'd  rather  lie  amid 
some  sylvan  scene  and  be  comfortable.  Or,  no,"  seeing 
a  shadow  play  over  his  friend's  face,  "  not  that ;  I  am 
glad  to  work  ;  I  am  never  idle.  Now  you  know  I'm  not, 
Mollie  " — she  nodded — "  but  I  want  to  choose  congenial 
work.  Please  read  the  verses.  I  see  them  sticking  out 
of  your  pocket ;  that's  something  I  like.  I'd  suffer,  as 
you  say,  if  it  would  make  me  a  poet." 

Moliie  produced  her  labor  without  any  comment,  and 
read  the  whole  to  Louis,  who  listened  critically,  and 
smiled  occasional  approval : 

' '  And  Enoch  walked  with  God — known  through  the  land 
As  one  all  feared,  few  loved — Jehovah's  friend. 
Mayhap  thou'st  slowly  climbed  the  granite  hills — 
Pushed  through  the  dim  fir  woods  that  make  their  heads 
So  wild  and  fearsome,  and  come  out  upon 
Some  huge  gray  rock — the  mountain's  naked  rib  : 
Sheer  below  thee  lay  the  matted  tree-tops, 
Wove  so  close,  it  seemed  a  feather  trembling 
Down  the  thin  blue  air  could  never  pass  their  leafage. 
Towering  in  circle  stand  the  hills, 
Joined,  as  if  hand  in  hand,  quiet  as  silence, 
And  half  veiled  with  cedar.     Above,  the  summer  sky ; 
Poised  in  its  blue  so  high,  a  very  mote 
Would  hide  its  flight — an  eagle.     All  the 
Faces  of  the  hills  full  of  a  mastered  sorrow ; 
A  grand  peace,  a  stilly  power,  vast  as  a  thought  of  God. 
Akin  in  nature  this  to  Enoch  ;  and  the  Presence  with  him, 
Even  so  lonely  'mid  the  crowd  of  life, 
2 


26  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Kept  him  forever.     Yet  the  children  loved  him ; 

Those  happy  beings,  still  too  young  in  life 

To  have  a  dread  of  God,  walking  with  Enoch. 

Sad  it  is  that  at  one  gate  of  earth 

We  should  strike  hands  with  God,  our  friend  ; 

And,  walking  through  earth's  space, 

Find  at  the  other  gate  but  a  stern  Judge, 

Who  says,  '  I  never  knew  you.'    Can  He  change  ? 

Or  is  it  we  who  have  forgot  His  face  ? 

But  Enoch  walked  with  God,  did  not  forget. 

When  from  the  grass,  in  the  still  summer  morn, 

Lifting  himself,  he  turned  to  meet  the  sun, 

Or  when  the  romping  children  in  the  town, 

Loving  to  hang  upon  his  strong,  firm  hands, 

Would  frame  their  steps  to  match  his  bold,  free  stride, 

And  watch  with  questioning  eyes  his  mouth  so  sweet ; 

Or  when  he  bargained  in  the  noisy  arch, 

Where  surged  the  traffic  from  first  morn  till  even, 

There  was  a  Presence  with  him  all  men  felt 

And  feared,  and,  fearing,  hated  Enoch,  who 

Alone  feared  not. 

Not  in  wrenched  nature,  or  rude  risings  up 
Of  power,  this  presence  came. 
He  never  trembled  forth  in  purple  mists 
At  the  gray  dawn,  or,  standing  lone, 
Forced  to  the  desert  by  imperious  power. 
Enoch  heard  no  inarticulate  murmur  of  a  loving  voice 
Call  in  his  ear. 

Or  in  marches  long 

Resting  an  hour  in  balsamy  cedar  groves, 
Stooping  to  drink  from  the  clear  running  brook, 
No  loved  grave  face  mirrored  beside  his  own, 
Thrown  back  in  broken  dimples  from  the  spring. 
It  was  a  Presence  deeper,  grander  yet, 
Than  these  fantastic  utterances  would  show — 
A  calm,  full  rest  within  his  inmost  heart — 
A  mighty  stirring  of  his  deepest  self, 
That  moved  the  man  to  proclaim  awful  words — 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  27 

Pity  and  wrath,  vengeance  and  love  and  pain, 
Felt  by  the  Highest,  touching  Enoch's  soul. 
For  'twas  with  soul  matched  to  the  Almighty  pulse 
Of  the  Great  Heart,  that  Enoch  walked  with  God." 

"  Now,  Mollie,"  said  Louis,  getting  off  his  grassy  couch 
and  shaking  himself,  "that's  theology,  and  you  promised 
to  stop  flinging  it  at  me.  It's  no  fair." 

He  stretched  out  his  hand  for  the  paper  as  he  spoke, 
and  scanned  the  lines,  with  a  provoking  little  smile  that 
only  made  him  more  delicately  handsome. 

"  I  won't  be  pelted  with  religion,"  he  continued,  pet 
tishly.  "  Baxter  quarrelled  so,  the  only  rest  the  neigh 
boring  saints  had  was  in  his  absence,  and  I  don't  be 
lieve  in  it,  anyway.  I  love  you,  but  oh  !  Mollie  sweet, 
not  your  hobby.  Let  us  have  peace.  Besides,  how  can 
I  believe  without  a  change  of  heart?  and  really  I  can't 
change  it,  because  you've  had  it  these  dozen  years.  Now 
truly,  honest  Injin,  is  it  fair  ?  " 

He  was  so  playful,  and  so  coaxing,  and  so  really  in 
love  with  her,  that  she  gave  a  little  sigh  to  the  despised 
theology,  and  only  looked  at  him  with  happy  eyes.  Brown- 
haired,  brown-eyed,  slender,  with  a  cheek  that  paled  and 
flushed  with  every  varying  emotion,  she  could  find  no 
fault  in  him,  religionist  or  sceptic.  It  was  all  the 
same  to  her,  in  her  craving,  over-mastering  love.  "  Come 
back  !  come  back !  "  said  she ;  "  I'll  be  quiet  while  you 
read  '  Phantasties.' " 

"  Ah  !  that's  better ;  "  and  the  stripling  returned  to 
accept  the  proffered  book,  and  walk  an  afternoon's  march 
further  into  Mollie's  life.  . 

"  I'll  sing  a  hymn,  if  that  will  comfort  you,"  said  he, 
throwing  down  the  volume,  and  studying  her  face,  for 
fear  a  shadow  might  have  come  upon  it  from  his  resolved 
following  of  his  own  humor.  I'm  not  a  statue  or  be- 


28  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

witched,  but  I  feel  sore  from  the  crown  of  my  head  to 
the  sole  of  my  foot,  I've  been  so  belabored  with  the 
Bible.  From  Aaron's  rod  to  Elijah's  staff,  all  the  cud 
gels  have  come  upon  my  back.  He  took  up  a  guitar 
lying  on  the  grass  beside  them,  and  set  the  strings  vibra 
ting  among  themselves  as  if  they  spoke  by  their  own  im 
pulse,  not  his.  Shall  it  be,  "  When  marshalled  on  the 
nightly  plain,"  or  "  Brightest  and  best,"  sweet  heart  ? 

"  Louis,"  said  Mollie  obstinately,  "  I  believe  I  was 
right  in  the  matter  of  Enoch.  I  stick  to  it.  If  you 
liked  you  could  see  it  too.  I  know  the  metre  is  wrong, 
but  the  spirit  is  correct,  anyway." 

"  The  spirit  is  willing  but  the  flesh  is  weak.  Eh  ?  "  re 
torted  he,  airily.  "  Well,  if  I  can't  sing  your  Calvinistic 
theories  asleep,  I'll  take  to  slumber  myself.  After  all, 
Mollie,  you  are  my  best  religion. 

'  Plus  blanche  que  la  blanche  hermine, 
Plus  pure  qu'un  jour  de  printemps, 
Tin  ange,  une  vierge  divine.'  " 

His  silver  tenor  half  sung,  half  whispered  the  words, 
and  before  the  Huguenotish  strain  was  concluded,  he  had 
really  slipped  into  dreamland— lying  with  his  arm  thrown 
under  his  head,  in  the  careless,  boyish  grace  of  youth. 

Mollie  dropped  her  book  to  watch  the  shadows  play  to 
and  fro  on  his  upturned  face,  and  indulge  in  the  luxury 
of  loving  him— her  own— never  to  be  shared  with  an 
other — all  hers — and  forever. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  29 


CHAPTER   III. 

' '  Humpty  Dumpty  sat  on  a  wall ; 
Humpty  Dumpty  had  a  great  fall." 

I  HE  scene  shifts  from  the  McCross'  pleasant 
orchard,  in  the  heart  of  Millville,  to  the  streets 
of  its  humble  dependant  Syllabub.  Time — an 
other  warm  autumn  afternoon.  Dramatis  persona? — two 
ragged  boys  disputing  over  a  pile  of  worm-eaten  boards. 
In  the  foreground  a  small  story-and-a-half  unpainted 
cottage,  with  a  hieroglyphical  sign  swinging  over  the 
door — 

"  Old  Solomon  Eodgers,  with 
Affords  entertainment  to 


That  sign  had  been  put  there  in  Revolutionary  days, 
when  the  tavern  was  the  resort  of  all  the  country-side, 
from  the  red-coated  gentleman  who  called  for  his  ale  at  the 
door  without  dismounting  from  his  handsome  steed,  to  the 
louting  plough-boy  leaning  against  the  fence  to  stare  at 
his  betters.  Old  Solomon  himself,  a  portly  red-faced 
Englishman,  who  had  watched  the  gentry  build  their 
quaint  houses  and  plant  their  rambling  gardens  about 
his  humble  mansion,  and  had  drunk  to  King  George  till 
the  last  of  his  patrons  found  a  refuge  from  patriotic 
treason  in  the  village  church-yard,  was  fain  to  follow 
them  loyally  to  the  end.  If  any  one  cares  to  push  aside 
the  tangled  grass  that  hides  his  weather-worn  tomb- 


30 


fUITFTLESS  FOLKS. 


stone,  he  can  read  in  mossy  letters,  deep  cut  in  the  glitter 
ing  mica-schist  (Latin  to  match  the  times) : 

HIC  JACET  SOLOMON  RODGERS 

OF    THE 
KING'S  ARMS,  WHO  DIED  A 

LOYAL  SUBJECT  OP  ENGLAND, 

A.D.   1812." 

And  now  that  he  and  those  he  reverenced  are  alike 
gathered  to  their  fathers,  the  brawling  occupants  of  a 
factory  suburb  spank  their  children  and  anathematize  each 
other  amid  the  carved  stairways  and  decayed  grandeur 
of  the  gentle ;  and  to-day,  when  our  story  begins,  one 
Patrick  Michael  Mulligan  dispenses  goat's  milk  manufac 
tured,  and  cherry  brandy  of  suspicious  parentage,  at  the 
stand  of  their  simple  neophyte. 

The  gardens  where  blue-eyed  Faith  and  sparkling 
Prudence  wandered  and  dreamed  are  crowded  with  un 
couth  brick  tenements ;  and  white-headed,  dirty  children 
play  in  gutters,  which  net  the  very  thyme-bordered 
plots  once  sacred  to  the  old-fashioned  fellowship  of  the 
hollyhock  and  rose.  Squalor  and  filth  have  reign  ;  and 
decency,  compelled  by  fear  in  daylight,  leaves  free  course 
to  folly  and  crime  when  once  the  shadows  have  fallen. 

Nay  the  less,  the  old  sign,  as  I  have  said,  creaked 
through  all  these  changes,  and  on  the  day  when  the 
events  I  chronicle  befell,  two  weeks'  rain  had  rusted  its 
fastenings  to  a  more  mournful  tune  than  ever.  I  have  al 
ways  thought  these  hoarse  mutters  had  vast  meaning,  but 
time,  alas!  has  made  them  as  unintelligible  as  the  black 
ened  inscription  which  I  can  read  only  because  my  grand 
mother  remembers  it. 

The  conversation  going  on  beneath  its  antiquated  dig- 


8H1FTLEKK  FOLKS.  31 

nity  had  nothing  of  these  reminiscences  to  mar  its  real 
ism.  Shade  of  gentle  Lady  Arabella,  draw  not  near ! 

"  If  you  don't  tote  them  ere  boards  to  the  Cross-Roads, 
I'll  lick  you,"  exclaimed  Amos  Daley,  who  was  tall,  with 
black  hair  and  gray  blue  eyes.  He  stood  full  half  a  head 
higher  than  Hugh,  and  looked  able. 

"  I  won't,"  said  Hugh,  setting  his  arms  akimbo,  much 
as  to  say,  "  Come  on,  if  you  dare." 

The  miserable,  worm-eaten,  snail-tracked,  mud-crusted 
heap  of  contention  didn't  seem  worth  the  challenge,  but 
neither  boy  was  insensible  to  the  charming  prospect  of 
"  punching  his  adversary's  head,"  and,  when  he  was  sub 
dued,  crowing  over  him. 

They  were  evenly  matched.  Hugh  had  the  advantage 
of  a  better  fitting  dress  and  firmer  flesh  than  Amos ;  he 
was,  indeed,  rather  cat-like  in  motion  and  muscle; 
whereas  Mr.  Daley  had  just  reached  that  stage  of  growth 
where  his  joints  were  loose,  his  motions  sluggish  and  un 
couth,  and  his  bones  gave  the  impression  of  being  far  too 
big  for  his  body. 

There  can  be  no  aggravation  to  a  Syllabub  boy  equal 
to  a  clog-dance  of  defiance,  performed  by  a  little  chap  on 
the  other  side  of  an  insignificant  defence,  such  as  the  pres 
ent  heap  of  kindlings.  Mr.  Daley  made  a  lunge  forward 
over  the  same,  caught  his  foot  therein,  and  sprawled ; 
while  Hugh^  who  had  darted  clear  round  it  and  hit  his 
foe  a  blow  in  the  back,  performed  another  dance,  enlivened 
with  whistling  and  snapping  of  fingers.  A  big  dog  also 
rushed  from  behind  a  pig-pen  and  took  the  nether  integu 
ments  of  our  hero  in  his  teeth,  with  vicious  growls. 

"  Sheure  for  onctht  yer  gittin  yer  due,  Amos  Daley. 
An'  is  it  to  steal  yer  here  ?  Hold  'im,  Skip !  "  cried  a 
ragged  girl,  appearing  in  the  door- way.  Little  Doppy 
had  not  fulfilled  the  promise  of  her  babyhood — lean, 


32  SHIFTLESS  POLES. 

skinny,  freckled,  with  a  pair  of  brown  eyes  large  enough 
for  the  Nova  Scotia  Giantess,  she  quite  warranted  Amos' 
sulky  retort : 

"  Yis,  'n  more'n  my  due  whin  I  have  to  look  at  yer 
ugly  mug— darn  your  pup,  he's  enough  like  you  to  be  yer 
own  brother,  he  is."  This  was  also  true,  if  bony  form 
and  ragged  hair  be  likeness. 

Doppy,  however,  felt  the  insolence  of  the  rejoinder,  the 
more  that  Hugh  added  a  rasping  laugh  at  her  expense. 
She  therefore  sent  the  contents  of  a  water  dipper  with 
a  vigorous  aim  full  in  the  grinning  face  of  the  prostrate 
foe,  and  shying  the  utensil  itself  at  his  accomplice, 
banged  the  door  ;  then  instantly  reappearing  at  a  window 
up-stairs,  shrieked,  "  Larn  manners  next  time,"  in  flush 
of  victory. 

"  Oh,  I'll  be  as  iley  as  a  barrl  of  kerrycine  if  you'll 
call  off  the  dog,"  said  Amos,  fain  to  retrieve  by  art  the 
losses  of  war.  We  may  well  say  loss,  for  if  Skip's  atten 
tions  continued  much  longer,  he  felt  that  there  would  be 
a  separation  from  the  garment  of  the  particular  blue 
patch  now  tackled  so  vivaciously,  and  had  a  reasonable 
dread  of  the  next  canine  procedure. 

"  Do,"  said  Doppy,  with  withering  scorn ;  "  but  you 
wouldn't  be  nothin'  better  'n  fish  ile."  After  which  she 
complied  with  his  request. 

Enter  Aleck  Heffron,  with  boards. 

"Where  were  yees  after  gittin'  'em?"  cried  Amos, 
feeling  inquisitively  at  the  point  of  doggish  attack,  arid 
sighing  with  relief  to  find  the  aforesaid  patch  still  there. 

"  You  hain't  missed  'em  from  the  great  River  Hotel, 
where  you  board?"  inquired  the  new-comer  with  biting 
irony. 

"  No,  I'd  turn  up  my  landlord  if  he  didn't  keep  better 
at  our  house," 


SHTFTLE8S  FOLKS.  33 

"  Town-house,"  corrected  Hugh  ;  "  jest  comin'  from 
there,  you'd  orter  know." 

As  Doppy  was  still  within  sight  at  the  window,  the 
trio  shouted  a  stave  in  shrill  chorus — just  out  of  range 
from  chance  missiles,  while  they  picked  up  their  dusty 
burden,  and  they  jumped  and  yelped  long  after  the 
house  was  left  behind  : — 

"  If  I  had  an  old  wife  to  bother  rny  life, 
I'll  tell  you  what  I'd  do,  woo-woo-wooow — 
I'd  set  her  afloat  in  a  leaky  boat, 
To  paddle  her  own  canoe,  woo-woo-wooow." 

"  Bow-wow-wow,"  chorused  Skip,  who,  urged  on  by 
Doppy,  had  followed  up  the  amiable  serenaders.  "  You'd 
better  git,  or  I'll  go  for  you,"  shrieked  she,  shaking  her 
dirty  little  fist.  Hereupon  the  cavalcade  took  to  their 
heels  in  good  earnest,  and  arrived  at  the  spot  destined 
by  their  aspiring  ambition  for  the  store,  much  panting, 
and  looking  back  fearfully ;  and  we  may  as  well  follow 
Doppy's  scornful  example,  and  leave  them  to  their  work. 

Just  at  this  moment  a  riding  party  were  moving  away 
from  Fir  Covert.  Mary  McCross,  in  a  sage-green  habit, 
we  know ;  and  you  may  have  met  Mr.  Cymbaline  Adol- 
phus  Brown,  nephew  of  Captain  Slocum.  He  has  ac 
companied  friend  Serena  to  the  Catskills,  and  traw  veiled 
in  Euwope  with  a  party,  since  the  date  of  our  present 
equestrian  excursion. 

The  magnificent  brunette,  in  maroon  velvet,  v/ith  a 
long  white  ostrich  plume  in  her  coquettish  cap,  is  Peace 
Pelican,  who  has  come  down  to  Millville  to  visit  Susy 
Jenkens.  Francis  Haythorne  rides  beside  her,  tall,  spare, 
with  clear,  sharply  cut  features,  and  hair,  eyes,  and 
beard,  all  shades  of  the  same  splendid  fiery  hue.  You 
know  the  old  couplet : 


34  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  With  a  red  man,  read  thy  read ; 
With  a  brown  man,  break  thy  bread. 
With  a  white  man,  draw  thy  knife  ; 
From  a  black  man,  keep  thy  wife. " 

There  is  something  profoundly  repulsive  in  a  white- 
eyed,  red-lidded,  white-faced,  white-lipped,  white-haired 
man,  deny  it  if  you  can.  But  all  honor  to  the  red  peo 
ple.  I  never  met  one  whose  temper  was  not  as  true  and 
good  as  hasty,  and  the  tale  of  whose  virtues  and  freckles 
was  not  exactly  equal.  A  red  head  may  outlast  its  ruddy 
color,  the  bright  cheek  it  emulates  may  pale,  but  the  hot 
pulsations  of  the  heart  that  lights  them,  can  never  cool 
to  generosity  or  faithfulness ;  or  energetic  kindness  to  its 
loved,  and  quick  forgiveness  of  its  hated.  Yet,  for  all 
this,  do  not  pray  for  a  red-haired  millennium,  unless  you 
are  equal  to  a  counter-irritative  diet  of  Cayenne.  For 
this  people,  the  sun  always  rolls  itself  in  thunder  or  in 
smiles ;  the  path  of  life  leads  either  straight  up  hill,  or 
down.  Still,  as  only  ruddy  David  could  have  assembled 
about  him  a  Jonathan,  a  Joab,  a  Bathsheba,  and  a  Solo 
mon,  my  opinion  is  firm.  There  are  two  kinds  of  red- 
haired  :  those,  my  favorites,  who  flame  like  lighted  char 
coal  in  open  air ;  and  those,  better  students,  but  less  lov 
able,  who  smoulder  like  charcoal  in  the  pit,  ready  to  burn 
bright  on  occasion. 

Mr.  Haythorne  belonged  to  class  number  two.  His 
hair  had  grown  with  years  into  a  rich  chestnut,  and  curled 
slightly ;  his  eyes  were  reddish  hazel,  like  a  fox's  tail. 
He  rode  indolently  ;  as  if,  being  fairly  on  horseback,  he 
never  meant  to  go  to  the  trouble  of  dismounting,  and 
had  grown  there.  Here  he  made  a  sharp  contrast  to 
Mr.  Brown,  who  gave  snobbish  attention  to  toes  and 
elbows,  and  airily  cleared  his  saddle  at  every  step.  Peace 
Pelican,  too,  displayed  all  the  elegant  graces  of  a  Top 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  35 

Town  riding-school,  while  Mollie  went  on  in  her  usu 
ally  unobtrusive  style,  so  that  no  one  knew  whether 
she  performed  her  part  well  or  ill. 

It  is  delightful  to  whip  Pegasus  to  a  gallop  when  the 
day  is  cool  and  the  roads  are  fine.  So  our  troop  thought, 
at  least.  The  clear,  white  sunlight  of  New  England  lay 
over  hill  and  wood.  I  have  always  believed  New  Eng 
land's  religion  and  Sabbaths  were  as  much  fed  on  her 
sunshine  as  the  Bible.  It's  holy  purity  has  something 
of  heaven  in  it.  On  this  autumn  afternoon  it  penetrated 
the  gray-green,  granite-dotted  pastures,  the  clumps  of 
dark-leaved  chestnuts,  the  pale  willows  by  the  water- 
coxirses,  the  lichen-decked  fences,  the  gurgling,  hurrying 
river,  the  black,  fir-crowned  mountains  that  framed  the 
scene.  Autumn  butterflies  floated  over  the  haycocked 
fields,  aged  crickets  wooed  loudly  in  the  meadows,  dragon- 
flies  shimmered  above  the  ponds,  bobolinks  and  blue 
birds  and  starlings  aired  gayly  the  mysteries  of  wings. 
All  was  as  peaceful  and  strong  and  delicate  as  is  the 
home  of  the  Puritans  in  its  very  essence.  It  needs  not 
Bret  Hurte's  exquisite  words  to  recall 

' '  Some  boyish  vision  of  an  Eastern  village, 

Of  uneventful  toil, 

Where  golden  harvests  followed  quiet  tillage 
Above  a  scanty  soil." 

The  white-spired  church,  with  its  row  of  drooping  elms, 
the  busy  red  mill  nestled  in  a  hollow  half  up  the  steep, 
the  spotted  lilies  and  dodder,  and  cardinal  flowers  of 
meadow  and  wood — how  do  they  stand  to  us  Godward, 
emblems  of  purity  and  peace,  in  all  the  weariness  and 
wants  of  after  life ! 

Still,  as  I  have  said,  the  secret  is  mostly  in  the  sun 
shine,  and  under  its  spell  our  young  folks  raced  and 


36  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

frisked  and  caracoled,  till  steer  lack  of  breath  brought 
them,  in  a  staid  quartette  amble,  down  the  steep  hill 
side. 

Said  Mr.  Haythorne,  pulling  off  his  hat  and  letting 
the  sun  gild  his  auburn  mane,  "  This  afternoon  is  enough 
to  make  even  poor  Yorick  replace  his  night-cap  011  his 
battered  crown,  and  see  beauty  in  life.  On  such  a  day 
as  this,  I  am  a  saint." 

Mollie  surveyed  him  playfully.  "  I  echo  Sancho 
Pauza,"  quoth  she.  "  Thou  art  the  first  saint  on  horse 
back  that  ever  I  saw." 

"Where  else  do  you  see  them  nowadays,"  said  Peace, 
secretly  tickling  her  indolent  escort's  steed,  in  the  hope 
that  it  would  give  him  a  little  shake-up,  and  venting  some 
inwrought  bitterness  in  her  speech.  The  mettlesome  ani 
mal  shied  out  a  couple  of  yards,  and  stood  on  his  hind 
feet  once  or  twice ;  but  his  rider  was  glued  to  his  saddle, 
and  only  smiled  a  complacent  "  Thank  you  "  at  the  atten 
tive  friend.  "  One  hardly  expects  to  find  them  among 
the  Great  Unwashed,"  resumed  he,  reining  his  horse  into 
line  again. 

The  relation  these  two  held  was  peculiar.  Something 
in  his  egotistic — he  was  egotistic — unruifleable,  lazy  tran 
quillity  aggravated  Peace  to  fever  heat ;  and  he,  on  his 
side,  could  never  make  up  his  mind  to  let  her  alone,  in 
spite  of  her  flouts  and  jeers,  which  she  aimed  so  inces 
santly  that  some  must  needs  rankle. 

Now  she  eyed  him  with  vivacious  disfavor  a  moment, 
and  then  retorted,  "  For  my  part,  I  never  see  a  broad- 
clothed,  self-satisfied  biped,  bestriding  his  sleek  steed  like 
a  clothes-pin  on  a  pumpkin,  without  remembering  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  on  the  subject." 

The  color  mounted  to  the  roots  of  his  auburn  hair,  but 
he  gave  a  placid  smile,  and  snatched  from  an  overhanging 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  37 

tree  a  handsome  cluster  of  wild  cherries,  which  he  tossed 
gallantly  into  her  lap. 

Mr.  Brown,  who  had  overheard  the  colloquy,  pushed 
the  other  side  of  Miss  Pelican,  and  cried  artlessly,  "  Do 
repeat  them  ;  I  haven't  seen  anything  spicy  since  I  read 
Plurabustah  in  bed  last  week." 

"  I  thought  you  meant  to  say,  '  Boots  at  Holly  Tree 
Inn,' "  retorted  she,  facing  round,  and  alluding  to  Mr. 
Brown's  favorite  topic  of  conversation.  "  No !  if  you 
want  to  hear  them,  ask  Mr.  Haythorne." 

"  Certainly,  if  smiling  Peace  wishes  it,"  said  he  in  a 
low  distinct  voice.  "  These  are  the  lines  to  which  I  be 
lieve  she  alludes  : 

"  '  Come,  gather  your  reins,  and  crack  your  thong, 

And  make  your  steed  go  faster  ; 
He  doesn't  know,  as  he  ambles  along, 
That  he  has  a  fool  for  his  master.'  " 

He  looked  square  in  her  face  as  he  repeated  them, 
so  that  she  reddened  with  consciousness  of  her  unlady 
like  implication,  and  giving  her  horse  a  sharp  blow,  sent 
him  prancing  and  rearing  up  the  road  till  he  reached  a  lit 
tle  bridge  over  a  certain  pretty  shady  brook,  where  he 
turned  round  and  round  a  full  do/en  times,  and  then  shot 
forward  like  mad. 

It  was  quite  impossible  to  be  long  angry  with  Peace. 
She  was  so  royally,  piquantly  handsome,  and  her  malice 
was  so  childish,  her  storms  so  thoroughly  the  offspring  of 
her  own  soul  fret,  which  only  broke  upon  their  victim  by 
accident — she  was  so  generous  and  impulsive  and  true,  one 
must  needs  forgive  her  from  mere  admiration  of  her 
beauty  and  amusement  at  her  freaks.  And  Francis  Hay- 
thorue  forgot  her  biting  tongue  before  he  had  spent  five 
minutes  watching  her  white  plume  dancing  on  before 


38 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 


him,  and  her  tall,  graceful  figure  swaying  liraberly  to  the 
motion  of  her  shying  yellow  horse.  He  was  the  most 
thin-skinned  of  men,  though  he  had  never  gauged  his 
strength  with  opposition  enough  to  learn  the  first  lesson 
of  self-distrust.  But  instead  of  wounding,  she  interested 
his  lazy  complacency ;  so,  without  any  apparent  hurry  or 
intention,  he  was  again  beside  her,  calm-  and  deliberate  as 
before. 

She  did  not  seem  to  have  at  all  composed  her  ruffled 
feathers,  however  ;  and  rode  along  the  stony  margin  of  the 
foot-path,  leaping  an  occasional  log,  and  holding  her  face 
averted  till  they  reached  a  second  brook — this  time  shal 
low  and  sunny  as  brook  could  be.  She  might  take  her 
road  over  the  bridge  beside  her  escort,  who  was  politely 
waiting  her,  or  wade  through  the  rivulet,  which  would 
scarcely  wet  her  horse's  hoofs.  She  cast  a  quick  glance 
on  his  pleasantly  smiling  face,  and  resolved — shame  in 
ducing  a  certain  angry  meeting  of  her  handsome  black 
brows — to  give  him  the  whole  road  though  the  stream 
reached  the  saddle  girth.  Which  it  really  did,  for  her 
charming  steed,  after  a  vicious  kicking  at  the  clear  bright 
water  which  sent  his  rider  in  a  hasty  leap  to  the  ground, 
deliberately  knelt  down,  and  rolled,  saddle,  bridle,  stirrup, 
all — over  and  over  and  over  in  the  refreshing  liquid. 

He  was  beginning  a  fourth  revolution  when  she  caught 
the  reins  as  they  came  uppermost,  and,  jerking  his  head  out, 
let  the  brute  through  the  brook,  which  she  crossed  herself 
with  a  prodigious  jump,  that  nothing  but  the  bitterest 
wrath  could  have  accomplished  in  safety.  The  smile  was 
so  broad  on  Francis  Haythorne's  well-bred  features,  that 
he  beamed  like  the  full  moon  turned  sarcastic  ;  and,  ruling 
his  delight  into  solemnity  perfectly  maddening,  he  dis 
mounted  and  held  the  dripping  stirrup  up  with  the  gent 
lest  care. 


FMTFTLERR  FOLKS.  39 

"  Do  take  my  horse,"  said  he  ;  "  this  saddle  is  wet 
through.  I  can  easily  change  my  dress,  and  I  know  you 
can  ride  without  the  horns." 

But  Peace  waved  him  off,  mortified  and  stormy.  ''  If 
you  want  me  to  mount,  do  so  yourself,"  said  she,  flourish 
ing  her  whip  with  suggestive  vigor ;  and  she  led  her  own 
aquatic  Pegasus  to  a  stone  wall  and  was  on  his  back  in  a 
twinkling  of  the  little  viper's  laughing  eyes,  which  offered 
curious  contrast  to  his  muddy  but  innocent  yellow  nose. 
Her  sympathizing  friend  had  wisely  galloped  before  ;  but 
the  young  lady  followed  him  at  a  dead  run,  and  reining 
Sandy  almost  upon  his  haunches,  exclaimed  in  a  voice 
quivering  with  passion,  "  You've  made  me  lose  my  self- 
respect  twice  to-day  !  Now  let  me  alone  !  I  shall  hate 
you  just  as  long  as  I  live — there  !  " 

"  I  hope  so,"  said  he  cheerfully  ;  "  I  can  bear  anything 
but  insignificance.  Shall  I  lead  your  horse  ?  " 

l(  Don't  you  dare  so  much  as  to  look  at  me,"  cried  she, 
actually  quivering  with  temper,  and  twice  as  handsome 
as  ever ;  "  and  don't  press  too  close,  either,  or  you  will  get 
muddy,  and  that  would  break  your  heart,  you  know." 

Francis  Haythorne  might  perhaps  be  a  wee  trifle  dandi 
fied  in  his  dress — or  would  have  been,  if  his  taste  was  riot 
so  exquisite  and  quiet.  He  had  therefore  received  a 
shot  in  his  vulnerable  point,  and  sulked  in  concert  with 
the  angry  beauty. 

"  Here  are  the  Cross-Roads,"  said  Mollie,  who  seemed 
as  little  pleased  with  her  ride  as  the  pouting  couple  she 
joined.  "  Let's  sweep  past  at  full  speed,  and  go  home." 

The  proposal  was  received  with  favor,  and  the  company 
prepared  to  ride  rough-shod  over  the  last  resting-place  of 
the  unhappy  suicide  buried  there,  when  a  horrible  noise 
smote  their  ears,  and  produced  an  unlooked-for  catas 
trophe. 


40  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Hugh,  Amos,  and  Aleck,  having  put  up  their  modest 
booth,  roofed  the  same  with  a  probable  remnant  of  one 
of  Mrs.  Noah's  window-curtains,  and  sat  in  state  over  the 
stock-in-trade  (two  apples,  six  peanuts,  and  a  mug  of  lem 
onade)  till  all  was  consumed.  Tiring  of  this,  they  uncon 
sciously  forestalled  Gilmore,  and  resolved  to  have  a  band. 
They  therefore  took  to  themselves  other  spirits,  and,  being 
fully  equipped  with  whistles,  bones,  a  conch-shell,  and  an 
old  tin  pan,  inaugurated  their  minstrelsy  for  the  benefit  of 
our  equestrians.  Judging  from  the  discomposure  of  the 
horses,  they  could  not  have  been  familiar  with  village 
instrumentation.  In  spite  of  Peace's  endeavors  (she 
was  too  proud  to  make  a  sound),  Sandy  betrayed  his 
breeding  by  walking  up  to  the  booth,  and,  putting  his  fore 
feet  on  the  third  fence-rail,  endeavored  to  fire  off  an 
imaginary  pistol ;  failing  in  which,  he  composedly  knelt 
down,  and  dropped  her  over  his  head  as  he  had  learned 
to  do  little  boys  at  the  circus,  and,  entangled  in  her  long 
dress,  she  was  obliged  to  allow  the  complaisant  Haythonie 
to  lift  her  to  her  feet. 

"  There  !  "  said  she,  "  I  hope  you're  happy  now  ;  that 
whole  grocery  store  full  of  idlers  and  loafers  is  grinning 
at  us  like  Cheshire  cats.  Go  away!  I'll  never  get  on 
him  again  as  long  as  I  live — never !  "  But  Sandy  now 
stood  with  his  nose  at  her  pocket,  searching  for  sugar, 
as  meek  and  innocent  as  if  he  had  never  kicked  a  fly 
in  his  life,  and  she  couldn't  help  forgiving  him  on  the 
spot,  and  fed  him  all  the  sweets  she  had  directly. 

Old  Mulligan's  dog  Skip,  however,  had  a  deeper  rooted 
abhorrence  of  Amos.  He  came  along  just  then,  and 
rushed  at  his  bare  toes  as  he  stood  balancing  himself  on 
the  sharp  fence-rail,  whither  he  had  climbed  to  make  the 
conch-shell  more  effective.  The  unfortunate  boy  hopped 
with  surprising  agility,  brandishing  his  instrument  in  one 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  41 

hand,  and  iu  the  other  the  pole  of  the  shanty,  pulled  up 
in  his  fright.  He  made  a  fine  figure,  his  tattered  gar 
ments  streaming  in  the  wind  ;  but  it  could  not  save  him. 
A  miscalculated  leap,  and  boy  and  building  mingled 
in  a  confused  kicking  heap.  At  this  Mollie's  horse  lost 
his  composure,  and  began  bucking,  which  of  course 
brought  her  to  the  ground  without  ado.  Mr.  Hay- 
thorne,  who,  after  his  last  Peace-ful  repulse,  had  with 
drawn  a  little  distance,  and  stood  watching  the  scene 
with  indolent  amusement,  heard  a  faint  cry.  Seeing 
Miss  McCross's  saddle  empty,  he  hurried  to  her  aid. 
But  she  was  on  her  feet  before  he  reached  her,  and  shook 
herself  gayly.  "  I  am  not  hurt ;  hurry,  and  help  the  poor 
boy." 

"  He  probably  knows  enough  to  get  up,"  said  Francis 
Haythorne,  casting  a  disdainful  glance  at  the  dusty  ruin 
from  whence  issued  piteous  howls.  "  Idle  dog,  he  de 
serves  a  whipping  for  heading  such  a  performance." 

Mollie  looked  disappointed  a  moment;  this  didn't 
realize  her  ideal  man  at  all.  After  a  short  hesitation, 
she  gathered  up  her  skirt,  and  dodging  through  the  fence 
helped  the  snivelling  child  to  his  feet.  He  might  well 
give  way  to  tears ;  besides  wounds  and  tatters  personal, 
the  shanty  of  his  pride  was  demolished,  and  worst  of  all, 
there  sat  little  Doppy  astride  the  fence-rail,  cold-piece 
basket  oil  arm,  making  faces  at  him. 

The  other  lads  gathered  near,  and  glanced  with  unim- 
pressible  face,  but  active  curiosity,  from  the  elegantly 
dressed  young  lady  to  their  forlorn  companion. 

"  Are  you  much  hurt  ?"  asked  Mollie  kindly,  Aviping 
las  bleeding  face  with  her  soft  handkerchief. 

"  Not  as  I  knows  on,"  with  a  sullen  shake  of  the 
shoulder  where  her  light  hand  rested. 

But  the  sunny-hearted  girl  smiled  down  into  his  eyes 


42  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

so  openly  and  brightly,  that  every  one  was  infected  by 
her  pleasantness,  and  grinned  in  concert.  "  Don't  you 
think  a  big  paper  of  peanuts  would  be  some  comfort  ?  " 

She  never  thought  what  a  lovely  tableau  she  made  in 
her  graceful,  girlish,  dignified  compassion.  It  was  almost 
a  pity  that  the  red-haired  aristocrat  should  have  had  the 
benefit  of  it.  Peanuts?  What  music  dwells  in  the 
word  !  She  slipped  the  money  into  Amos'  hand,  pointed 
to  the  store  opposite,  and  sprang  quickly  to  her  saddle. 
Riding  away,  they  found  Mr.  Brown  judiciously  halting 
half  a  mile  from  the  scene  of  tumult.  And  here  Peace 
had  her  revenge,  for  Francis  Haythorne,  who  had  in 
sisted  upon  mounting  her  horse,  was  brushed  neatly  off 
against  a  tree,  by  the  incorrigible  Sandy,  who  then  turned 
round  and  laughed,  as  the  crestfallen  horseman  picked 
his  sprawling  length  from  the  dusty  road.  Two  beauti 
ful  tortoise-shell  kittens  had  been  sleeping  in  the  sun,  on 
the  wide  piazza  of  the  grocery  opposite  the  booth,  and 
in  double  fright  of  Skip  and  the  racket,  darted  into 
the  great  branches  of  the  overshadowing  chestnut-tree. 
Now,  entering  the  secret  precincts,  a  scampering  and 
scratching  ensued  that  all  the  cats  in  the  Salem  witch 
craft  couldn't  have  beaten.  Then  came  stillness,  and, 
with  the  pussies'  reappearance,  an  odor  that  erected  all 
noses  in  anguish. 

"  Drat  them  animiles  !  "  said  the  fat  grocer,  taking 
his  Irishman's  meerschaum  from  his  mouth ;  "  they've 
ben  an'  tipped  over  the  whale-oil  on  to  theirselves. 
They  beat  all  I  ever  see  for  worretin'  an'  cantankerin'. 
I  promised  them  to  little  Doppy,  but  I  don't  calkelate  to 
stand  this.  Yesterday  I  finds  'em  asleep  in  the  meal  tub, 
and  to-day  they  gnawed  up  half  a  chicken.  Here,  Amos, 
just  you  go  an'  kill  'em,  and  when  you  come  back  I'll  give 
you  an  orange." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  43 

The  rosy  merchant  returned  to  his  town  politics  with 
relieved  mind,  and  Amos,  nothing  loth  to  do  his  errand, 
shuffled  off  with  the  doomed  felines,  holding  them  by  the 
tips  of  their  tails,  as  one  would  a  dirty  pocket-handker 
chief. 

"  Amos — Amos  Daley,"  called  Doppy's  voice,  "  give 
me  them  cats." 

"Wouldn't  you  like  'em?"  returned  he,  with  the 
ugliest  grin  his  bruised  features  could  assume,  and 
jiggled  them  up  and  down  to  "  get  the  music  out  on  'em." 
"  Now  you'll  leaim  to  throw  water  on  me." 

"  O  Amos  !  do  give  'em  here." 

"  Shan't ;  I'll  cut  their  tails  off  and  roast  'em  for  break 
fast.  Father's  short  of  fresh  meat."  He  went  on  with 
his  occupation  as  he  spoke,  with  the  greatest  enjoyment. 

"  You  mean,  dirty  Irish  boy !  "  cried  Doppy,  white 
with  rage,  and  stamping  hysterically.  "  Give  me  them 
cats  ;  you  hurt  'em." 

"  Good  to  make  'em  grow  long,"  returned  Amos,  vary 
ing  his  exercise  by  sometimes  grasping  a  leg  or  an  ear, 
careful  to  keep  them  always  in  full  view. 

Doppy  made  a  rush  at  him,  stopped  half  way,  and, 
with  a  look  of  perfect  despair,  threw  her  apron  over  her 
head,  dropped  in  a  heap  in  the  road,  and  began  to  sob  in 
concert  with  the  cattish  howls. 

Amos  gazed  at  her,  transfixed  by  amazement.  He 
shifted  the  kittens  to  one  hand,  and  scratched  his  head  to 
wako  himself,  while  mouth  and  eyes  flew  wide  open. 
Was  it  possible  that  his  ruthless  foe  was  reduced  to  this  ? 
Was  that  curious  complication  of  pink  calico  and  brown 
pinafore,  rocking  back  and  forth  in  such  bitter  grief, 
really  she  ?  He  advanced  a  little  nearer ;  the  kittens 
wailed;  she  sobbed  afresh.  He  put  his  free  hand  in  his 
por-ket  and  felt  of  his  jack-knife  to  bolster  up  his  courage, 


44  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

fast  ebbing  before  this  painful  sight,  and  strove  to  pre 
serve  his  stolid  face.  This  being  a  dismal  failure,  he 
shook  the  kittens  with  a  virulence  exceeding  all  pre 
vious  malignity,  but  his  heart  still  sank. 

The  little  girl  shuddered.  "  Amos,"  cried  she,  lifting 
a  face  where  the  tears  had  washed  two  white  channels, 
"  I  hain't  nothin'  of  my  own  but  one  bead  ring,  an' — sob- 
sob—  a-a  china  mug,  but  I'll  give  'em  to  you  if  you  won't 
kill  the  cats." 

Poor  little  Doppy!  she  was  so  nice  crying.  His 
friends  had  no  such  fondness  for  their  animals.  Master 
Daley's  resolution  vanished  utterly.  Perhaps*  he'd  better, 
— he  took  half  aim,  and  threw  one  kitten  at  her,  just  to 
try  the  effect. 

She  gathered  it  in  her  skirts  and  kissed  its  head  pas 
sionately,  and  wiped  and  cuddled  it,  crying  all  the  while. 
And  then,  somehow,  the  other  kitten  was  laid  with  its 
fellow,  and  some  one  was  saying  soft  words  in  a  harsh, 
boyish  voice:  "Don't  cry  now,  sis.  I  hain't  hurted  'em 
of  no  account,  and  you've  got  'em  safe.  Don't,  there's  a 
dear.  Say,  I'll  give  you  all  my  peanuts  if  you  won't  squall 
no  more."  Amos  adored  peanuts. 

It  took  some  time  to  convince  Doppy  of  his  kind  in 
tentions.  But  at  last  she  dried  her  eyes  on  her  oily  apron, 
and  began  to  smile.  It  made  a  strange  alteration  in  her 
pinched,  weary  face.  In  its  bright  glory  her  best  self 
shone  forth,  womanly,  sweet,  and  lovable.  "  I  don't  want 
your  nuts,"  said  she,  gratefully.  "  I  didn't  know  you 
were  so  good.  I'm  sorry  I  sprinkled  you ; "  and  a  gleam 
of  roguish  amusement  tucked  the  corners  of  her  mouth 
into  what  should  have  been  dimples,  and  still  hinted  at 
beauty. 

Amos  laughed  too,  and  answered  with  some  remorse : 
"  I  ain't  good ;  it  was  mean  to  jigger  your  pussies ;  but  I 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  45 

won't  plague  you  no  more,  never."  His  keen  gray  eyes 
were  bent  in  very  friendly  sort  upon  the  other  party  to 
this  compact,  for  compact  it  was,  and,  when  he  asked  to 
carry  her  rescued  prizes,  she  gave  them  into  his  keeping 
with  implicit  confidence,  and  they  were  gently  snuggled 
against  his  jacket  all  the  way  to  the  "  Solomon  Rodgers." 

"  Mr.  Hoskins,  I  killed  them  darn  brutes  as  you  teiled 
me ;  will  you  give  me  the  orange  ?  " 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  Can  she  make  a  cherry  pie,  Billy  boy,  Billy  boy? 
Can  she  make  a  cherry  pie.  charming  Billy  ? 
She  can  make  a  cherry  pie 
While  a  cat  can  wink  her  eye. 
She's  a  young  thing  —  she  can't  leave  her  mammy  !  " 


Miss  McCross  descended  the  stairs  next 
morning,  she  was  stopped  by  Bridget,  whose 
cheeks  were  streaky  red  with  grief. 
"  Me  cousin  be  dead,  mum,  and  we  want  to  give  him  a 
three  nights'  wake,  and  an  illegant  funeral.  Would  ye 
rnind  gittin'  the  breakfast,  and  lettin'  me  go  now  ?  " 
The  young  Celt's  face  was  like  a  house  with  two  tene 
ments  —  the  up-stairs  half  all  smiling  at  the  prospect  of 
three  evenings'  fun,  but  the  down-stairs  part  solemnly 
mourning  the  corpse. 

Retiring  visions  of  garden-work,  sewing,  letters,  friendly 
visits,  flitted  forlornly  through  Mollie's  mind.  When 
did  the  prospect  of  a  week  in  woman's  normal  sphere  fail 
to  strike  the  victim  with  disgust.  Greasy  dishes,  crocky 
pots  and  spiders,  aching  bones,  blistered  fingers!  Ugh  ! 


46  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Mollie  resolved  to  put  a  pleasant  face  on  the  matter, 
since  there  was  no  help  for  it.  Assuring  the  mourner 
that  she  would  do  the  work  in  her  absence,  she  made  a 
few  consoling  inquiries  about  the  bereaved  family,  especi 
ally  a  certain  long-legged  widower  supposed  to  be  sweet 
on  Bridget.  The  bright-eyed  serving-maid  appeared 
extremely  gratified  at  the  friendly  interest,  although  she 
tossed  her  head  and  said,  "  she  hoped  she  was  intirely 
too  principled  to  think  of  a  man  as  old  as  him — forty  if  a 
day!" 

So  she  gave  a  little  frisk  up-stairs,  and  put  on  her  best 
purple  Sunday-go-to-meeting  dress  and  a  blue  bonnet, 
and  took  a  yellow  sun-shade,  and  green  plaid  shawl  with 
a  red  and  black  stripe  in  it,  and  hurried  away  to  the 
funeral,  leaving  Mollie  to  wash  up  a  great  pile  of  tea- 
things  which  her  grief  the  preceding  night  had  induced 
her  to  set  away  dirty. 

The  doorstep  to  the  back  kitchen  entrance  is  a  great 
foot-worn  rock.  There  we  will  sit  comfortably,  and  play 
with  the  green  and  yellow  parrot,  while  the  new  cook 
gets  breakfast.  We  have  known  of  her  being  high-priest 
at  these  altars  before,  and  so  are  not  worried  at  oxir  pros 
pects.  Besides,  the  kitchen  is  a  kind  of  architectural 
poem,  good  for  lay  contemplation,  and  we  own  to  being 
not  only  lay,  but  lazy,  and  sniffing  the  fragrant 
coffee,  and  watching  preparation  of  the  tear-provoking 
onions  with  luxurious  content  of  inaction.  We  feel  a 
kind  of  awe  of  these  hallowed  precincts.  We  are  gazing 
at  a  monument  to  the  housekeeping  genius  of  whole  gen 
erations  of  Prices,  called  and  chosen  to  their  pursuit  as 
fanatically  as  Lord  George  Gordon,  or  any  other  assassin 
ating  enthusiast.  It  is  wainscoted  with  so  many  doors 
leading  into  pantry,  store-room,  sink-room,  china  cup 
board,  tin  cupboard,  and  the  like,  that  there  is  scarcely 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  47 

an  inch  of  room  for  the  yellow  pine  ceiling.  It  looks 
out  on  beds  of  herb  garden,  where  Mollie's  grand 
mother  had  collected  every  possible  leafy  medicine,  from 
tansy  and  sage,  to  catnip  and  boneset,  and  sweet  thyme, 
and  African  marigolds,  these  last — charming  garnishes  for 
soup. 

Mollie  was  worthy  of  her  ancestors.  It  is  a  pleasure 
to  this  day  to  eat  at  a  table  of  her  setting.  We  must 
dine ;  but  let  refinement,  not  pheasants'  tongues,  grace 
the  board.  Our  heroine  was  a  true  artist.  She  didn't 
admire  tongue  cut  into  Chinese  mandarins,  and  chicken 
pressed  into  lizards  and  elephants.  But  on  a  ground  of 
spotless  damask  she  liked  to  mingle  pale-green  cucumbers 
in  cut  glass,  and  red  and  yellow  tomatoes  glittering  under 
ice,  cress  fresh  and  crisp  from  the  garden,  toast  delicately 
streaked  with  brown,  in  its  silver  rack.  When  her  work 
was  complete,  all  was  simple,  inviting,  wholesome.  It 
would  have  been  so  without  the  handsome  tableware 
that  was  the  pride  of  Mrs.  McCross'  heart.  She  always 
insisted  on  using  the  solid  silver  tea-service,  and  accom- 
pani  tents,  on  the  ground  that  they  saved  crockery ;  her 
da1  ,,'hter  washed  them  daily  in  a  bright  tin  basin,  with  a 
lit^ie  white  dish-cloth,  that  had  a  long  handle.  Louis 
thought  she  never  looked  more  sweet  and  lovable  than 
when  fulfilling  this  trifling  duty ;  though  he  was  firmly 
resolved  that  Mrs.  Alwood  should  do  nothing  of  the  sort, 
except,  perhaps,  weed  the  garden  of  an  evening,  with  him 
self  to  oversee  and  carry  her  watering  pot,  and  after  work 
trundle  her  home  to  the  door  in  a  spruce  wheelbarrow 
painted  blue.  But  Louis  was  boarding  in  the  village, 
above  the  harness  shop — had  been  for  three  months — and 
the  cheerful  song  that  Mollie  sang  over  her  cookery 
grew  fainter  as  she  neared  the  awful  time  of  serving  up, 
and  finally  gave  place  to  a  look  of  worried  expectation, 


48  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

as  she  sounded  the  two-toned  breakfast  bell  in  the  hall, 
and  cast  a  glance  of  anxious  scrutiny  over  her  completed 
handiwork.  A  pair  of  daintily  etched  vases  still  wait 
their  flowery  burden,  and  Mollie  hurries  to  the  garden  to 
remedy  the  omission.  There  is  plenty  of  time  ;  Mrs. 
McCross  is  always  late. 

It  is  a  trite  observation,  that  flowers  and  children, 
more  than  anything  else,  appeal  to  the  good  there  is  in 
us.  This  is  partly  because  we  soften  when  we  remember 
the  holinesses  of  childhood,  which  carries  in  its  hand  two 
symbols — a  butterfly  and  a  flower.  Tn  baby  days  a  Mar 
guerite,  an  acorn,  a  Jacob's  Ladder,  which  we,  happier 
than  the  Patriarch,  could  find  on  any  summer  hillside — 
toys  of  God's  own  making — satisfied  our  purer  instinct. 
True,  maturity  and  age  prefer  to  give  a  high  price  for 
labored  imitation,  but  our  souls  always  see  the  cast-off 
treasures  in  a  halo,  rainbowed  through  the  prism  of  a 
tear. 

And  poets  who  claim  a  kind  of  modern  prophetic  in 
sight  are  faithful  to  the  outgrown  blossoms.  Burns  could 
dwell  on  the  days  when 

"  We  twa  hae  paidlit  in  the  burn, 
An'  pu'd  the  gowans  fine ;  " 

and  Hood  lament,  in  more  studied  phrase, 

"  The  roses  red  and  white, 
The  violets  and  lily-cups," 

of  innocent  boyhood.  What  dabbler,  even,  does  not  fancy 
that  mere  mention  of  these  divine  flowerets  that  gem  a 
familiar  hillock  is  the  password  to  the  heights  of  God 
like  Olympus,  and  maunder  about  roses  and  tulips  and 
violets  in  an  a-b-c  andrian  stylo,  that  we  forgive  for  love 
of  his  subject? 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  49 

The  least-cultured  instinct  reaches  out  toward  flowers. 
It  is  no  association  of  cultivated  thought  and  {esthetics 
that  brings  a  pot  of  scarlet  geranium  to  grace  the  hum 
blest  artisan  dwelling — sets  the  felon's  picciola  against  the 
barred  windows  that  piteously  contrast.  It  was  no  ele 
gant  refinement  of  taste  that  gave  a  matron  in  an  English 
jail  the  saddest  sight  she  ever  beheld — a  bold,  bad 
woman  gloating  over  a  common  field  daisy  stolen  from 
the  prison  yard.  There  is  some  subtile  relation  between 
the  good  and  true  in  the  human  soul,  and  the  spirit  of 
beauty  whose  vital  force  moulds  the  poorest  blossom  into 
harmonious  shape  and  color,  which  gives  these  growing 
thoughts  of  God  a  language  that  needs  no  coarse  inter 
vention  of  sound,  but  conveys  emotion  independently  to 
the  soul. 

Our  truest  friend  can  only  imitate  the  fidelity  of  the 
flowers  who  follow  us  into  every  season  of  life.  First, 
religion's  Christmas  holly,  and  the  snowdrops  and  lilies  of 
Easter  confirmation ;  then  love's  rose-buds,  and  orange- 
blossoms  for  the  wedding ;  later,  separation  brings  the 
forget-me-not  and  pansy ;  and  ere  the  sexton  strikes  his 
spade  iu  the  earth,  our  best-loved  casts  a  bit  of  green  into 
our  grave. 

Most  things  end  with  the  tomb,  and  having  reached 
this  point,  I  don't  see  how  Miss  McCross'  meditation 
could  have  gone  any  further,  even  if  she  had  not  seen 
little  Doppy. 

It  was  really  a  great  mistake  on  this  infant's  part  that 
her  five-o'clock  visit  should  have  been  so  prolonged. 
She  had  pulled  her  onions,  and  stowed  away  her  beets, 
and  gathered  her  apples — they  lay  near  in  a  dilapidated 
basket — but  still  she  lingered. 

Mollie  came  upon  her  crouching  on  the  damp  ground, 
ready  to  spring  away  at  the  very  rustle  of -a  twig,  and 
3 


50  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

yet  forgetting  all  in  the  scarlet  gladiolus  she  held  broken 
in  her  hand.  The  little  sharp  face  bent  over  the  fiery- 
throated  prize  with  an  intensity  of  soul  hunger  as  bitter 
— more  bitter — than  death.  The  young  lady  had  her 
hand  on  the  thief  s  shoulder  before  she  knew  it,  and,  with 
out  any  conscious  thought  labor,  felt  in  her  own  soul  a 
sympathetic  sentiment  of  pity. 

But  the  culprit  sprang  to  her  feet  with  hardening  face, 
every  trace  of  longing  and  reflected  flower  spirit  giving 
place  to  depraved  anger,  fear,  and  unchildlike  survey  and 
mastery  of  her  perilous  situation. 

"  Le-me-lone ;  I  hain't  took  nothin'  o'  yourn,"  she  cried 
with  an  oath,  wriggling  like  an  eel  under  Mollie's  firm 
grasp. 

"  I  don't  want  to  hurt  you !  "  said  her  captor  in  her 
clear  pleasant  accents ;  "let  me  see  your  face." 

Little  Doppy  obeyed,  with  such  a  mixture  of  cunning 
and  class  hate  deforming  her  lineaments,  as  made  the  pure 
woman  who  held  her,  recoil  and  relax  her  grasp. 

The  child  felt  it,  and  escaped  with  a  cat-like  spring. 
"  He  !  he !  he !  No,  I  guess  you  won't,  bad  cess  to  you," 
was  her  retort  in  her  rude  harsh  voice,  perching  on  the 
fence  post  as  she  spoke  with  both  blistered  dirty  drum 
sticks  of  legs  hung  outside  ready  to  leap. 

Mollie  resolved  to  conquer.  "No,"  said  she  tran 
quilly,  "  but  here's  your  basket,  and  if  you'll  stay  and 
talk  to  me  a  second  or  two,  I'll  give  you  some  huckle 
berry  pie  to  fill  it." 

"  You  won't  put  a  hand  on  me  ?  " 

"  No."     Mollie  folded  hers  behind  her. 

These  waifs  are  excellent  physiognomists,  and  Doppy 
felt  in  the  inmost  depths  of  her  vicious  little  heart  that 
she  had  a  "  soft  thing."  She  came  with  circumspection 
however,  prepared  to  fly  at  the  firat  alarm.  "  What  d'ye 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  51 

want  ?  "  said  she  ungraciously,  but  with  keen-eyed  obser 
vation  of  everything,  from  the  hyssop,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
wall,  to  the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  or  rather  the  Fir  Covert 
that  shielded  the  house  on  three  sides  the  flower-decked 
domain,  like  a  black  fringe  on  a  gay  tunic. 

"  I  want  several  things,"  said  Mollie,  smiling  in  her 
friendliest  guise.  "  Your  name,  for  instance." 

Suspicion  at  once  rose  rampant ;  visions  of  jail  and 
police-courts,  to  which  her  nine  years  of  life  were  no 
strangers,  thronged  Doppy's  brain.  She  drew  back, 
dogged  and  defiant : 

"  Father  '11  lick  any  one  that  meddles  with  us,"  cried 
she. 

"  Oh,  he  will  ?  Then  I  shan't  think  of  attempting  it," 
said  Mollie,  smiling  again  with  an  amused  vision  of 
old  Mulligan's  defensive  operations.  "  Do  you  know 
Amos  ?  " 

"  I  might."  Doppy  bit  her  finger-nails  stolidly,  but 
never  gave  over  her  watch  on  the  young  lady. 

"  He's  a  friend  of  mine.  I  want  to  send  a  message  to 
him." 

"  Amos !  "  cried  Miss  Mulligan,  with  a  little  burst  of 
impulsive  disdain — "  he's  a  great  'un." 

"  Then  you  won't  oblige  me."  Mollie  looked  dis 
appointed. 

<e  I  might,"  answered  Doppy  again,  looking  apparently 
straight  at  the  fence,  and  surveying  Mollie  through  the 
corner  of  her  eye,  while  she  wiped  her  gnawed  digits  on 
her  scorched  pinafore. 

"  Will  you  tell  him  that  I  have  got  some  shirts  and  a 
pair  of  shoes  that  will  fit  his  feet,  and  want  him  to  come 
and  get  them  ?  " 

"  I  might,  if  I  should  see  him,"  said  Doppy,  carelessly, 
and  took  a  second  secret  survey  of  this  curious  person, 


52  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

from  her  smooth  brown  hair  to  her  morning  slippers. 
And  she  smirked  as  she  found  that  there  was  a  button 
off  her  calico  dress,  and  gazed  at  the  vacancy  so  steadily, 
that  Mollie  felt  the  place,  and  looking  down  discovered 
the  loss  for  the  first  time.  Conscience-stricken,  our 
heroine  ventured  to  offer  some  flowers,  by  way  of  round 
ing  the  interview.  Hereupon  the  child's  old,  restless  face 
became  greedy  with  longing;  and  snatching  the  bou 
quet  from  its 'collector's  hand,  she  seized  her  basket  with 
out  a  word  of  thanks,  and  scrambling  over  the  fence, 
started  up  the  street  on  a  greyhound's  run. 

This  wholesome  mortification  of  philanthropy  sobered 
its  disciple;  but  she  was  only  the  firmer  resolved  to 
see  more  of  the  limber-legged  infant,  and  so  picked  up 
Tabby,  who  had  been  permeowing  around  the  little  in 
truder  the  whole  time,  and  ran  back  to  the  house. 

I  have  always  held  it  a  breach  of  hospitality  to  talk 
about  people  who  entertain  me.  In  consideration,  there 
fore,  of  the  many  good  dinners  I  have  eaten  at  Fir  Cov 
ert,  I  will  only  say  of  Mrs.  McCross,  that  she  was  limp 
and  faded  like  a  last  year's  print  over-boiled  and  ill- 
starched. 

She  had  laid  herself  upon  the  sofa,  and  sighed  perti 
naciously,  while  her  daughter  was  absent,  and  Mollie, 
when  she  brought  the  breakfast  in,  and  sat  anxiously 
waiting  her  verdict,  felt  to  the  marrow  of  her  bones  that 
something  was  wrong.  She  ran  over  all  her  possible  fail 
ures  and  sins,  including  her  engagement,  of  which  she 
had  said  nothing.  Upright  as  she  was  by  nature  and 
principle,  she  had  discovered  long  before  that  the  easiest 
way  for  all  parties  at  Fir  Covert  was  to  let  things  reveal 
themselves. 

Mrs.  McCross  sat  down  languidly,  and  fanned  herself 
with  the  table-cloth,  as  if  the  effort  to  breathe  was  too 


SHIFTLESS  FOLK*.  53 

great ;  but  rallying  after  some  minutes,  began  to  pour 
tea.  She  gave  the  creamer  a  vicious  shake  at  the  first 
cup,  and  smelt  at  it. 

••  Mollie,  don't  you  know  any  better  than  to  put  sour 
milk  on  the  table.  Might  as  well  call  us  pigs  at  once, 
and  feed  us  on  swill." 

"  It's  morning's  milking,  mother." 

"  Xo  such  thing !     Don't  tell  me  I  don't  know  night's 

O  O 

milk  from  morning's." 

"  Mirandy,  it  is  morning's,"  said  the  Deacon,  deprecat- 
ingly ;  "I  gave  away  every  drop  in  the  house  last 
evening." 

"Then  the  pail's  sour  ;  you're  just  slut  enough  to  never 
look  into  it  from  one  year's  end  to  another,  and  the  thriv 
ing  Catholics,  that'll  burn  us  all  in  our  beds  some  day,  and 
you're  so  devoted  to,  wouldn't  wash  it  if  it  was  green. 
Why  didn't  you  drain  the  fat  out  of  this  egg-plant?  It's 
swimming  in  hog's  grease.  That's  always  the  way ;  weak 
and  sick  as  I  am,  I've  got  to  be  up  the  first  thing  in  the 
morning  and  the  last  at  night,  or  there's  nothing  done. 
Where's  that  milk  pail  ?  " 

"  It's  on  the  closet  shelf." 

"  You  put  it  up  dirty,  of  course.  You  never  thought 
to  ^euld  it,  but  just  tucked  it  away.  Always  shiftless  and 
slack.  It's  a  sin  in  the  sight  of  God." 

Mollie  swallowed  something  lumpy,  and  looked  stead 
fastly  at  the  untouched  meal,  which  was  perfectly  dainty 
and  nice,  but  made  no  answer.  Her  mother  pushed 
her  tea-cup  one  way  and  her  plate  another,  and  tearing  a 
piece  of  bread  began  to  eat  it  a  crumb  at  a  time,  tucking 
it  in  as  if  the  effort  to  live  were  beyond  bearing.  "  Go 
and  get  me  that  pail." 

Mollie  rose  and  brought  it.  It  proved  as  sweet  as 
a  head  of  young  clover. 


54  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Mrs.  McCross  glanced  into  its  bright  depths,  and  set 
it  down  as  one  would  a  hundred-pound  weight.  Hope 
and  dignity  were  annihilated  in  its  descent. 

A  long  silence  ensued,  broken  only  by  a  faint  permeow 
from  Tabby,  who  was  weakly  petitioning  bits  from  the 
Deacon. 

"Mary,  put  that  old  cat  out!  I'll  wring  her  neck! 
meowing  and  permeowing  around  me  !  " 

Her  husband  gently  shoved  his  pet  toward  the  girl, 
and  a  green  and  yellow  parrot  in  the  kitchen  greeted 
the  dismissed  favorite  with  hoots  and  shrieks  of  laughter. 
Poll  having  gnawed  the  fastenings  of  her  cage  door, 
ambled  out,  and  made  a  rush  at  poor  puss,  chuckling  and 
kissing,  and  fairly  drove  her  to  claw  up  the  what-not* 
where  she  stood  at  bay  on  top,  with  tail  enough  for  three, 
while  polly  climbed  maliciously  after  her.  Being  cuffed 
on  the  head,  she  bit  at  Tab  with  her  iron  bill,  till  felina 
was  fain  to  run  down  again,  leaving  the  feathered  victor 
singing  and  whistling,  her  tail  spread  and  her  wings  shak 
ing  in  commemoration  of  her  glorious  victory. 

This  hubbub  was  specially  distasteful  to  Mrs.  Mc 
Cross.  She  angrily  demanded  why  her  daughter  didn't 
answer  her. 

"  I  beg  pardon ;  I  didn't  hear  you." 

"  You  did  !  What  do  you  say  that  for  ?  You  heard 
me  ask  you  if  you'd  washed  that  pail,  and  you  never 
spoke.  I'm  not  enough  account  in  my  own  house  to  be 
listened  to !  You're  a  thankless,  ungrateful,  ill-tempered 
girl !  Deacon  McCross,  I  wouldn't  pretend  to  have  any 
affection  for  my  wife  when  I  treated  her  as  you  do !  " 
The  gentleman  addressed  looked  mildly  up  from  his 
dish  of  cress,  and  said,  (l  Law !  Mirandy,  how  ken 
you  ?  " 

"  How  can  I  ?  "     Mrs.  McCross  burst  into  tears.     "  You 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  55 

bring  screeching  poll  parrots  and  everything  into  the 
house  to  annoy  rne,  and  then  ask  '  How  can  I  ?  '  There 
it  goes  now,  with  its  '  dear  Louis,  dear  Mary,'  in  a 
voice  like  a  car  whistle,  and  every  nerve  I  have  in  the 
world  on  edge.  Why  don't  it  say  dear  tea-pot,  dear  mop 
handle  ?  Might  just  as  well.  I  know  you'd  as  lief  have 
me  dead  as  not,  and  I  will  be  some  time ;  then,  perhaps, 
you'll  regret  doing  all  you  can  to  make  me  miserable." 
Her  voice  had  a  feeble  wail  in  it  that  wrung  Mollie's 
heart,  though  she  had  been  brought  up  on  such  scenes. 

She  sprang  hastily  to  her  feet :  "  Mother,  I  didn't  know 
Louis  meant  to  give  me  the  parrot.  I'll  keep  her  in  the 
barn,  anywhere,  so  she  won't  annoy  you."  Then  she 
threw  her  arms  around  the  sufferer's  neck,  and  kissed 
away  her  tears. 

"  No  ;  I  won't  have  the  poor  bird  abused,"  permitting 
the  caress  with  disgust ;  "  I  couldn't  be  cruel,  even  to  a 
dumb  beast.  I  can  bear  it  just  as  I  do  everything  else. 
There  isn't  much  of  my  life  that  isn't  spent  bearing 
something  for  somebody."  She  darted  a  look  at  her 
husband,  who  wriggled  painfully.  "  Nobody  ever  had 
such  a  cold,  heartless  set  of  human  beings  around  them  as 
I.  Every  one  seems  to  try  how  much  he  can  pile  on. 
Never  mind  ;  there's  some  one  to  bring  up  the  rear.  It's 
no  matter  how  much  she  suffers  ;  wear  her  out  and  get 
another  ;  you'll  find  out  the  difference  !  " 

The  Deacon  pushed  back  his  chair  and  glanced  wist 
fully  at  the  "  Millville  Universe,"  but  didn't  dare  touch 
its  inviting  page.  Mollie  left  her  mother  and  sat  down, 
hopeless  of  stemming  the  tide,  in  a  chair,  the  other  side 
the  room.  "  Don't  talk  so,"  said  she  gently  ;  "  we  all 
love  yoxi  dearly,  and  want  you  to  be  happy." 

"  There  it  is  again  !  '  Don't  talk  so.'  Shut  up  your 
head,  old  woman.  Yoii've  served  your  turn ;  now  you 


56  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

can  stand  aside.  There's  no  more  work  to  be  got  out  of 
you!  I've  borne  a  great  deal  from  you,  Mary;  I've 
loved  you  too  much !  You're  paying  me  for  it." 

She  sobbed,  and  covered  her  face. 

Her  husband  snatched  the  newspaper  in  a  convulsive 
dab.  "You  ungrateful  girl,"  he  began,  "you  orter 
know  better'n  hurt  your  mother's  feelin's  so.  It's 
jest  as  she  sez.  You  don't  care  for  any  one  but  your 
self." 

Mollie  gave  him  a  glance  of  silent  reproach.  His  eyes 
sank.  "  It's  no  use,"  cried  he  testily.  "  You  shan't 
have  him,  an'  you  might's  well  come  to  it  first  as  last. 
I'll  give  you  all  the  money — anything  you  want ;  but  we 
must  get  done  with  this." 

"  I  can't,"  said  she,  shrinking  back  with  piteous, 
frightened  appealing  in  her  poor  blanched  face ;  "  don't 
ask  it,  father  ;  I  love  him."  She  turned  from  one  to  the 
other ;  but  the  Deacon  drummed  with  one  hand  under 
the  table,  and  looked  at  his  paper ;  and  Mrs.  McCross' 
handkerchief  came  down  quite  energetically  for  a  lan 
guid  invalid. 

"  You  can't !  "  cried  she,  in  her  thin,  nasal  voice. 
"  This  to  me,  that  have  brought  you  into  the  world  !  I 
suppose  you'll  be  disgracing  the  family,  and  running  away 
next.  He's  just  mean  enough  to  ask  it.  You  needn't 
look  at  the  door;  you've  got  to  hear  what  I  say.  How 
can  you  sit  there,  Elizur,  and  listen  to  her  !  Running 
away — do  you  understand?  I  tell  you,  Mary,  I'd  as 
soon  see  you  dead  as  married  to  that  fellow.  Don't  1 
know  him  ?  Haven't  I  had  him  here  under  my  nose  in 
this  very  house  for  years  ?  You  break  my  heart."  And 
she  began  to  cry  again. 

Mollie's  lip  held  a  curve  that  could  be  touching  when 
it  curled  up,  and  trembled  like  a  hurt  child's ;  but  there 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  57 

was  a  certain  belying  squareness  about  the  contour  of  her 
chin  and  cheek,  and  her  pleasant,  steady  eyes  had  no 
yielding  in  them.  She  rose  sadly,  as  her  mother's  har 
angue  was  thus  merged  into  another  line  of  offence,  and 
answered,  "  I'm  sorry  you  feel  so,  but  I  cannot  break 
my  word  to  Louis." 

"  Well,  run  away  then,  and  bring  down  your  father's 
gray  hairs  to  the  grave  !  ungrateful  daughter  !  If  you 
hate  me, — I'd  care  something  for  somebody,  if  it  was 
only  an  old  cat,  just  to  see  how  it  felt." 

"  I  shall  not  run  away,  mother ;  you're  forbidding  to 
grease  the  horse's  teeth  to  no  purpose,"  said  Mollie,  with 
some  heat,  and  then  was  silent  to  master  herself,  and  re 
pent  her  hasty  speech.  "  I  expect  to  wait  a  long  time — 
years,"  looking  imploringly  at  the  small,  blonde  features, 
now  crumpled  into  a  peevish  frown.  But  there  was  no 
impulsive  motherhood  lurking  about  Mrs.  McCross' 
pinched  nose  and  thin  lips,  the  latter  borrowing  from 
some  unknown  source  a  bright  cai-niine  hue,  not  conso 
nant  with  her  thinned  Batchelor's  hair-dyed,  gimlet-like 
ringlets.  Alas!  how  could  motherhood  go  hand-in-hand 
with  such  adornments?  The  wife-love  that  beautifies 
every  stage  of  woman's  journey  among  the  silvery  abeals 
and  birch  woods  of  shady  afternoon,  and  makes  her  regret 
for  the  fresh  young  brightness  of  her  morning  descent 
from  the  hills,  only  a  pleasant  memory  could  not  have 
union  with  that  combination. 

Without  exactly  saying  this  to  herself,  the  daughter 
felt  instinctively  that  her  mother  could  not  comprehend 
her  soul  cry — the  %  in  their  mental  equations  stood  for 
an  unknown,  not  only,  but  a  totally  dissimilar  element, 
which  neither  could  hope  to  balance.  Mollie's  momentary 
beseeching  gave  place  to  a  different  emotion — it  wasn't 
defiance — but  a  simple  comprehension  of  their  essential 
3* 


58  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

soul  variance,  that  induced  her  to  add  calmly,  "  I  shall 
marry  him,  because  we  have  loved  each  other  ever  since 
I  can  remember,  and  we  are  married  in  God's  sight  now." 

Mrs.  McCross  walked  stifHy  to  the  door  without  a 
backward  glance  at  the  culprit,  and  banged  it  in  righteous 
anathema.  Her  husband  lingered  behind.  There  was 
something  in  him  that  vibrated  in  better  harmony  with 
his  daughter's  soul-strings,  though  their  gamuts  were  no 
more  identical  after  all.  "  You're  strong,  Mollie,"  said 
he,  wistfully,  "  but  she'll  tire  you  out ;  I  can't  stand  by 
you I'm  an  old  man,  daughter.  I  must  have  some  com 
fort.  I'm  willing — more,  I'm  glad — you  like  each  other ; 
I  hope  God  means  to  right  the  poor  boy's  wrongs,  but 
your  mother  won't  have  it  so." 

The  girl  was  silent  a  moment,  perhaps  counting  her 
strength ;  her  frame — even-balanced  physical  to  mental, 
had  given  her  no  experience  of  lack  here.  She  felt  able 
to  her  finger-tips,  even  while  her  vivid  imagination  por 
trayed  an  almost  endless  vista  of  struggles  and  weariness. 
She  drew  the  fatherly  gray  head  close  to  her  fresh  young 
face.  "  My  own  papa,"  she  answered,  her  eyes  deepening 
with  love  and  earnestness,  "  don't  mind  me  ;  I  am  strong 
— strong  enough  to  bear  anything  for  Louis." 

Here  the  mother's  querulous  voice,  "  Elizur  !  Elizur 
McCross,  haven't  you  any  consideration  for  me,  that  I 
am  left  all  alone  from  morning  till  night  ?  " 

His  wrinkled  face  grew  wearier.  He  dropped  Mollie's 
fingers,  which  he  had  been  caressing  between  his  own,  and 
with  slouched  shoulders  and  hands  crossed  behind  him, 
went  slowly  into  the  parlor,  where  sat  the  wife  of  his 
bosom.  Mollie,  left  behind,  gave  a  tired  sigh,  that  was 
repressed  as  soon  as  vented  audibly  to  consciousness,  and 
after  a  few  moments'  pensive  sitting  with  folded  hands, 
looking  out  into  the  battle  of  her  life, — poor  girl !  she 


SIITFTLES8  FOLKS.  59 

little  realized  what  a  battle, — rose,  and  quietly  began  her 
work.  All  the  people  near  Mrs.  McCross  wore  a  heavy, 
repressed  expression,  that  came  over  mouth  and  eye  at 
her  approach.  Now,  though  Mollie  went  about  humming 
a  little  song  picked  up  among  her  Irish  pensioners,  a 
plaint  of  a  poor  exiled  soldier  boy  who  was  homesick, 
and  had  no  money  to  get  back  to  fatherland,  it  was 
because  she  always  checked  a  sigh  by  turning  it  into 
singing,  on  principle,  and  the  stave  of  the  queer  jerky 
melody  ran  tip  and  down,  like  a  lattice  raised  to  hide  her 
busy  thoughts. 

Poppy  meanwhile  had  descended  from  her  post  on  the 
what-not,  climbed  to  the  second-best  kitchen  table  by  the 
corners  of  the  cloth,  and  discussed  a  plate  of  putty  with, 
lively  enjoyment.  She  was  sharpening  her  bill  on  the 
edge  of  the  dish,  keeping  her  bright  eye  fixed  with 
portentous  brilliance  on  the  cat,  when  Mollie  entered, 
bringing  a  salver  of  dirty  dishes,  and  poll  invited  her  to 
view  her  work  of  destruction  in  every  variety  of  pretty 
Poppyisms.  The  tray  went  on  the  table,  and  Mollie  had 
the  suicide  in  her  hand  in  a  twinkling ;  tears,  that  would 
not  gather  for  hurt  pride  and  feeling,  filled  her  eyes.  "  I'm 
so  afraid  you're  killed,"  cried  she,  cradling  meddlesome 
poll,  back  down,  in  her  hand,  and  kissing  her  soft  green 
breast  tenderly.  "  Poor  !  poor  polly  !  How  could  you 
touch  that  horrid  stuff?  "  But  the  bird,  though  she  lay 
with  her  legs  drawn  up  and  her  head  ducked  in,  was 
embodying  the  passiveness  of  content,  not  pain.  In 
short,  she  found  the  situation  delightful,  and  said,  "  Dear 
Louis,  dear  Mollie,"  with  unabated  relish  and  vigor,  the 
second  she  regained  her  feet.  Her  mistress  could  only  ca 
ress  her  anew,  and  scratch  the  yellow  cheek  feathers  raised 
so  insinuatingly,  and  say,  "  Oh !  what  pretty  wings !  " 
when  they  were  spread  in  all  their  red-and-yellow  glory 


60  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  her  admiration.  And  though  work  must  be  done,  her 
climbing  by  beak  and  claws  up  the  calico  wrapper,  clear 
to  Miss  McCross'  dainty  head,  couldn't  well  be  helped, 
nor  her  services  as  hair-dresser,  rendered  with  utmost 
care,  refused.  She  pulled  each  filament  gently  at  the 
point  of  disappearance  in  the  heavy  braids  behind. 
Hairs  rooted  at  both  ends  were  puzzling.  Feathers  were 
not  made  so,  nor  Louis'  fur,  nor  the  cat's.  Without 
doubt,  the  custom  was  vicious,  and  warranted  lusty  tug 
ging,  such  as  required  a  firmly  planted  claw,  and  Mollie, 
after  twisting  and  turning  in  vain,  was  fain  to  take  her 
down,  still  giggling,  and  chewing  industriously  at  one  long 
brown  hair.  If  it  had  been  the  chief  tail  feather  of  her 
bitterest  enemy,  it  could  not  have  afforded  more  complete 
satisfaction.  She  played  with  it  thoughtfully,  when  from 
her  throne  on  the  gas  fixture  she  watched  her  mistress 
begin  preparations  for  dinner,  occasionally  joining  in  con 
versation  with  any  noisy  kitchen  \itensil,  or  refreshing 
herself  with  a  nibble  of  pine  from  the  casement. 

Mollie  always  cooked  from  a  certain  old,  long,  thin 
volume  handed  down  from  remote  antiquity.  It  was  once 
a  library  catalogue.  You  could  still  read,  heading  its 
pages,  "  Histories,  Cyclopedias,"  etc.,  written  in  a  stiff, 
tradesman's  hand,  and  pale  ink. 

If  the  proof  of  the  pudding  be  in  the  eating,  this  book 
must  have  been  of  the  finest,  for  many  generations  of 
mice  had  nibbled  its  greasy  corners.  As  Mollie  took  it 
from  the  pantry  shelf,  the  air  was  filled  with  the  aroma 
of  nutmeg,  cinnamon,  cloves,  and  mace.  It  opened  of 
itself  to  "  Natural  Histories ; "  and  passing  by  sundry 
recipes  for  brandy  cocktail,  pop  robin,  and  Welsh  rarebit, 
she  was  soon  deep  in  marble  cake,  whence  she  passed  to 
biography,  in  the  person  of  Sally  Luun,  and  thence  to 
tipsy  cake  and  deviled  kidneys,  reposing  peacefully 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  61 

under  the  heading  of  "  Religious  Works."  Thus  labor 
ing,  and  clinging  fast  by  her  faith  to  Louis,  albeit  not- 
without  many  secret  tears,  a  fortnight  passed.  But  one 
day,  as  she  bends  over  her  cookery,  all  of  a  sudden 
Mollie  hears  a  faint  squeak  at  the  front  gate,  followed 
by  a  well-known  boyish  tread  on  the  gravelled  walk,  and, 
dropping  the  iron  cooking-spoon,  throws  herself  into  the 
new-comer's  arms.  Polly,  looking  on  wisely,  takes  up 
the  well-known  strain,  "Dear  Louis!  dear  Mary!  "  aud 
Tabby  knows  that  there  are  no  more  tit-bits  for  her,  and 
virtuously  slaps  the  floor  with  her  tail,  and  eyes  robins 
on  the  mountain  ash  with  fell  purpose. 

"  O  Louis,  how  I  have  wanted  you !  "  cried  Mollie, 
first  breathing  a  long  relieved  sigh  ;  then  brightening 
into  a  dewy  humble  smile, — humble  with  the  kind  of  hu 
mility  that  love  makes  it  passing  sweet  to  a  woman  to 
yield  to  her  husband,  and  him  only — Jmmility  born  of 
our  loftiest  needs,  and  made  possible  by  our  rarest  ten 
derness. 

"  I  wish  you  had,"  said  he  airily.  It  was  very  charm 
ing  to  be  a  necessity  to  Mollie,  who  was  the  "  one 
woman "  in  his  mental  amphitheatre.  Something  in 
Mollie's  intensity  was  exquisitely  fascinating  to  him.  It 
stirred  unplumbed  depths  of  capacity  in  himself,  and 
the  first  revelations  of  our  power  to  ourselves  are  emotions 
of  delight  the  gods  might  well  envy.  The  poor  gods,  who 
can  only  know  and  do,  it  is  not  for  them  to  imagine,  strive, 
grow  through  striving,  accomplish,  and  find  in  accom 
plishment  the  least  element  of  the  perfect  joy  of  success. 
Mollie  always  seemed  so  rich  a  being  to  Louis.  She 
wasn't  round ;  she  was  all  projections,  and  feelers,  and 
filmy  longings,  reaching  endlessly  into  the  impossible. 
Louis  didn't  think  round  women  nice  on  the  whole  ;  but 
the  difficulty  might  have  been,  that  most  women  are 


62  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

round  like  circles,  and  very  flat ;  whereas  the  right  round 
ness  (which  who  possesses  ?)  is  that  of  the  sphere.  But 
Louis  himself  was  very  like  a  young  barnacle,  swimming 
lightly  about  the  blue  oceans  of  feeling,  and  being,  and 
enjoying.  It  was  a  very  uncertain  matter  what  rock 
would  be  the  basis  of  his  future  solidification  into  a  house 
keeping  and  sedate  shell-fish  ;  or  if  he  wasn't  swallowed 
up  by  some  big-bellied  monster  beforehand,  and  so  alto 
gether  robbed  of  the  patriarchal  barnacular  possibility. 

As  yet,  Mollie  recognized  this  fact  not  one  whit.  Some 
people  first  love  analytically,  some  by  unconscious  syn 
thesis  /  and  though  time  may  induce  the  opposite  method 
before  we  write  "  finale,"  or  time  writes  it  for  us,  its 
choice  belongs  to  our  own  proper  nature  at  the  start. 
Mollie,  like  most  women,  was  synthetic  in  such  matters. 
She  loved  Louis  for  his  harmonious  whole,  not  because 
his  face  was  delicate  and  refined,  or  his  scholarship 
finished  and  elegant,  or  his  heart  warm  and  lovely,  but 
because  it  was  Louis.  Here  was  her  beginning  ;  here  she 
was  content  to  end.  She  had  analyzed  flowers,  and  their 
structure  could  not  be  replaced  ;  she  had  analyzed  books, 
to  destroy  their  flavor ;  she  had  analyzed  her  friends,  to 
lose  them ;  she  was  not  afraid  to  subject  her  love  to  this 
disastrous  process,  she  never  thought  of  doing  it.  If 
you  had  asked  Louis  why  he  cared  for  Mollie,  he  could 
have  given  you  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  things  delight 
some  to  his  soul  that  had  induced  his  fondness,  and  for 
all  their  love,  they  seldom  agreed,  even  in  vital  points, 
just  as  on  the  present  occasion. 

"  Make  the  most  of  me,  sweetheart,"  said  he,  seating 
himself  on  the  table  and  drawing  her  to  the  same  eleva 
tion  ;  "  the  rose  that  blooms  beneath  the  hill  must  shortly 
fade  away.  I'm  off  to  Top  Town  this  afternoon." 

"  Well,  I'm  glad  you're  going,"  slowly  ;  then,  girl-like 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  G3 

(she  was  only  a  girl  after  all),  confirmed  her  words  with 
two  large  tears  that  fell  warm  and  round  on  Louis'  hand. 

"  O  Mollie !  "  said  he,  hastily,  with  a  warning  hus- 
kiness  in  his  own  voice,  that  brought  back  her  self- 
command  at  once.  She  couldn't  have  Louis  cry ;  that 
would  never  do. 

"  Don't  feel  so  bad,  dear ;  I  thought  you  liked  Top 
Town." 

She  didn't  like  it — though  it  was  her  need  of  him  that 
would  be  so  bitter,  so  craving,  that  had  induced  her  tears. 
Her  tell-tale  face  would  have  betrayed  her,  even  if  her 
lover's  delicate  soul-feelers  had  not  made  him  aware  of 
her  sentiments.  Some  people,  like  this  pair,  have  a  sixth 
mesmeric  sense,  as  true  and  delicate  a  mood  test  as  a 
magnet  to  the  pole. 

"  You  don't  agree  with  me,"  said  he,  blankly.  "  I  see 
it  in  your  silence,  and  everything.  Why,  it's  a  splendid 
opportunity.  Think  of  it !  A  partnership  in  only  three 
short  years,  and  then  yourself  in  peace  and  plenty  forever ! 
Why,  it  is  almost  like  a  miracle.  We  can  travel,  collect 
pictures,  indulge  our  poor  starved  art  tastes  to  the  full — 
live  !  But  I  see  how  it  is:  you  would  rather  tie  your 
self  to  slave  labor,  and  anxiety  for  daily  bread.  It  is 
just  your  high-toned  notion,  but  not  business  like,  my 
dear." 

Mollie  thought  that  taunt  very  hard.  When  any 
one  was  going  to  take  a  departure  from  rectitude  or 
nice  feeling,  were  it  little  or  great,  it  was  always  done 
on  "  business  principles,"  which,  being  a  woman,  she 
could  not  be  expected  to  understand.  She  grew  very 
white  about  her  lips,  but  persisted,  "  I  hope  it  is  all  for 
the  best,  I'm  sure."  The  glance  she  lifted  to  his  was 
an  odd  mixture  of  deprecation,  pain,  and  unconvinced 
opinion.  "  I  work  so  hard  to  make  people  temperate 


64-  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

and  good,  and  it  seems  as  if  this  put  you  on  the  oppo 
site  side." 

"  Too  bad,"  said  Louis,  playfully,  yet  with  a  certain 
strong  dissent  underlying  his  airy  way  of  treating  the 
subject.  "  I  knew  it  was  religion ;  your  only  fault  is 
piety.  Sometime  you'll  learn  to  let  people  set  fire  to 
one  sin  to  light  them  on  to  the  next  in  peace." 

"  I  never  shall,"  said  Mollie,  with  obstinate  decision, 
"and  your  rhetoric  is  as  heathen  as  your  philosophy. 
People  can't  be  set  fire  to  in  a  figure  when  sin  is  the 
property  under  consideration.  Sin  is  opaque  in  its 
nature,  and  the  result  of  darkness,  and  can  neither  burn 
nor  be  a  torch  in  any  form,  except  br&ler  en  enfer,  which 
we  weren't  speaking  of."  There  was  no  windmill  too  in 
significant  for  this  Quixote,  but  here  her  lover  oppor 
tunely  sealed  her  mouth  with  his  own. 

"  If  it's  all  one  to  you,  I'd  rather  sip  honey  from  your 
lips,  ab  osculo  rubescente  puellce,  to-day,"  quoth  he ;  "  the 
process  is  sweeter." 

It  was  provoking  to  have  cold  water  thrown  on  one's 
plans  and  prospects.  Mollie  felt  it,  and  did  not  blame 
him.  "  Louis,  was  that  oscndum  caritatis,  or  not  ?  "  said 
she,  smiling.  "  I  try  to  think  well  of  Top  Town,  but  I 
suppose  it's  my  duty  to  speak  my  mind." 

"Very  right;  duty  performed  is  a  rainbow  to  the 
soul.  No,  it  wasn't  caritatis  at  all;  it  was  the  very 
passion  of  vehement  adoration.  Is  that  satisfactory  ?  " 
The  words  seem  light,  but  the  look  that  went  with  them 
was  tender. 

"  At  any  rate  you  are  not  in  the  sample  room,"  re 
marked  Mollie,  with  the  air  and  feeling  of  one  resolved 
to  look  on  the  bright  side  of  a  thunder-cloud  at  his 
zenith. 

"  That  is  just  where  I  am,"  said  he,  coloring.     "  Peli- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  65 

can  said  to-day  it  was  the  only  place  open  to  me.  I 
wish  it  was  another.  But  then,  the  prospective  partner 
of  a  concern  holds  a  different  relation  to  society  in  any 
situation  than  a  mere  clerk.  Your  father  discharged  me 
from  my  place  in  his  office  last  week,  so  it's  Top  Town  or 
starve.  Dorit  feel  so  about  it,  darling.  What  could  tempt 
me  to  leave  you  except  the  hope  of  speedy  return  ? 
Don't  you  trust  me,  that  your  face  is  the  epitome  of 
wretchedness  ?  Think  it  not  unkind  "  (coaxingly)  "  that 
from  the  nunnery  of  thy  chaste  glance  I  flee  to  war's 
alarms." 

"  I  do  trust  you  !  "  said  Mollie,  all  intensity.  She 
was  trembling  against  his  shoulder,  in  the  violence  of 
her  feeling.  "  Haven't  I  given  you  myself  ?  But  I  can't 
explain  how  I  feel — so  beset,  and  as  if  a  hand  were 
stretched  out  to  come  between  us — so  untranquil — sun 
dered  from  my  moorings." 

The  boyish  figure,  with, his  flitting  color  and  dreamy 
eyes,  formed  in  graceful,  unknit  lines — so  dear,  so  beau 
tiful,  so  uncomprehending  !  Yet  it  was  passing  sweet  to 
have  him  draw  her  poor,  perplexed  head  to  his  arm,  and 
kiss  her  eyelids  smarting  with  bitter  tears,  and  call  her 
his  own  dear  Mollie.  The  gesture,  the  prompting  emotion, 
the  tenderness — were  all  she  craved.  Yes,  she  was  his 
— nobody  else's — forever.  Top  Town  might  bring  untold 
disaster,  but  they  were  one.  Rising  and  standing  be 
fore  him,  face  to  face,  "  Tell  me,"  said  she,  "  are  you 
quite  resolved  to  accept  that  position  ?  " 

«  Quite." 

"  I  feel,  I  know  trouble  will  come  to  try  us  both.  I 
want  to  say," — she  spoke  with  effort,  for  she  saw  by  the 
perplexed  look  in  his  gazelle  brown  eyes  that  her  words 
seemed  to  his  view  to  be  a  criticism  of  him,  and  not 
what  she  meant?  "  that  whatever  happens  I  am  always 


66  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

yours.  You  mustn't — I  mustn't— over  put  myself  in 
one  thought  and  yourself  in  another,  nor  in  God's 
thought.  We  are  one,  not  two,  and  mercy,  blessing 
— whatever  comes,  is  ours." 

He  accepted  the  position,  of  course,  Didn't  he  desire 
that  very  thing  above  all  goods  ?  The  proposition  was 
sound.  His  face  flushed  and  paled,  and  flushed  again,  all 
with  pride  and  love,  and  delicate,  sensitive  appreciation 
of  her  worth  to  himself,  and  his  exceeding  riches  in  her. 
But  for  all  that,  it  meant  something  different  to  him  than 
to  her.  She  was  looking  at  it  as  a  safety-boat  in  perils, 
and  doubts,  and  storms ;  he  regarded  it  as  a  pleasure 
skiff,  wherein  they  two  would  sail  always  in  dreamy, 
sunny  seas. 

"  Say  it  again,"  she  said,  hungrily;  "say  we  are  one 
from  this  time  forth,  forever." 

He  said  it  solemnly.  It  is  a  wonderful  thing  to  say, 
— such  as  should  demand  bending  knees  and  a  beating 
heart  before  all  its  heavenly  sweetness  and  obligation,  and 
he  knew  and  felt  it.  "  It  is  true,"  affirmed  Mollie,  draw 
ing  a  long  breath  and  wearing  a  quietly  satisfied  peace  in 
her  face. 

Enter  Mrs.  McCross. 

This  good  lady  having  been  taken  with  neuralgia  direct 
ly  after  breakfast,  had  kept  Molly  waiting  on  her  the 
whole  morning. 

First,  she  must  leave  her  work  to  hunt  the  camphor 
bottle,  which  always  stood  under  the  mirror ;  then  she 
must  get  assafoetida,  and  mould  the  pills,  a  mustard  paste, 
and  three  different  kinds  of  tea,  for  benefits  unknown. 
While  her  daughter  was  within  earshot  the  mother 
groaned  aloud,  and  when  at  last  everything  a  malade 
imaginaire  can  invent  had  been  applied,  and  Molly  gently 
inquired  if  she  felt  better,  she  answered  that  she  presumed 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  67 

she  should  when  she  was  dead,  for  then  there  would  be  no 
one  to  make  her  ill  by  selfishness  and  ill-temper. 

Lastly,  Mollie  was  summoned  from  her  half-cooked 
dinner  to  read  a  comforting  chapter,  beginning,  "  Fret  not 
thyself  because  of  evil-doers,"  and  to  listen  to  a  tearful 
prayer  over  her  ingratitude. 

The  girl  left  the  room,  calm  as  always.  Her  mother 
sobbed  loudly  till  she  remembered  another  medicine. 
But  Mollie  for  once  was  deaf  to  her  call.  Hence  ensued 
a  look  through  the  kitchen  key-hole  and  hasty  entry. 

The  pair  gave  a  dismayed  start  at  her  appearance,  though 
they  kept  their  position  on  the  table,  hand  in  hand.  But 
Louis'  heart  beat  fast  and  hard.  He  dreaded  his  pros 
pective  mother-in-law.  She  on  her  side  regarded  him 
with  indignant  disdain.  "  I  should  like  to  ask  how  you 
came  here  ?  "  cried  she,  in  cutting  sarcasm.  Now  Mrs. 
McCross  had  been  all  the  mother  Louis  had  ever  known 
— if  such  care  as  that  lady  would  be  likely  to  give  can  be 
called  motherhood.  He  withered  like  the  mown  grass 
under  the  hot  sun  when  she  addressed  him  thus.  With 
him  loyalty  and  obedience  went  hand  in  hand,  and  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  submit  to  her  from  infancy.  His 
childish  tenderness  was  not  broken  with  the  rending  of 
their  familiar  ties.  "  I  came  to  see  Mollie,"  said  he, 
deeply  hurt ;  "  I  am  going  away." 

"  I  shan't  believe  it  till  you're  gone  ;  you're  full  of  de 
ceit  as  an  egg  is  of  meat.  You  needn't  sneak  in  to  try  your 
fascinations  on  my  daughter ;  she  won't  have  you." 

Louis  might  be  sensitive  and  gentle,  but  he  was  very 
apt  to  be  found,  after  repeated  disloclgment,  in  his  original 
position.  "  She  has  agreed  to  take  me,  however,"  re 
marked  he  quietly.  But  he  was  not  quiet  in  his  soul. 
She  seemed  to  be  jabbing  him.  with  a  rusty  knife. 

"  Promised  fiddlestick  !  "   said   Mrs.   McCross  iri  her 


68  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

most  insulting  tone.     "  Mollie,  you  can  never  want  that 
puppy ;  I  despise  him !     His  very  legs  look  mean." 

Mollie  had  been  standing  silently,  watching  her  lover's 
downcast  face,  but  now  she  darted  to  his  side  and  threw 
herself  upon  his  breast.  "  This  is  my  place,"  cried  she  ; 
<£  no  power  on  earth  can  part  us." 

Mrs.  McCross  saw  that  she  had  gone  too  far,  and  so 
uttered  three  shrieks,  and  fell  fainting  in  a  clean  place 
behind  the  stove.  She  did  not  recover  till  the  object  of 
her  abuse  had  pressed  his  good-by  kiss  upon  the  lips  of 
the  girl  bewildered  in  the  intensity  of  her  sudden  wrath, 
and  left  the  house.  Mollie  followed  him  to  the  door  and 
watched  him  go  up  the  road,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
herself  clinging  to  the  handle  for  support.  She  could 
hardly  stand.  She  began  to  be  afraid  of  herself.  She 
hadn't  known  that  she  could  be  so  angry. 

The  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  on  her  mother's 
part  in  audible  tears.  By  long  practice  she  had  acquired 
a  groan  as  resonant  as  a  bell,  and  there  was  a  particular 
place  in  Mollie's  back  where  every  one  caught  and 
quivered. 

How  it  rained  that  dreary  afternoon  ;  as  Francis  Hay- 
thorne  told  Peace  Pelican,  "  the  angels  must  have  been 
doing  up  a  three-months'  wash  of  dirty  surplices  in  their 
leaky  tub."  Maiy  was  in  her  room  begging  mercy 
for  herself  and  Louis,  praying  comfortless  prayers  that 
seemed  all  wrong,  and  only  settled  heavily  back  upon  the 
heart  that  had  no  power  to  wing  them  upward.  Her 
tempest  of  longing,  fighting,  willing,  had  given  way  to  a 
reaction.  She  couldn't  feel  sure  of  anything  since  that 
terrible  soul-uprising  against  her  mother — all  the  more 
terrible  because  it  found  vent  in  no  kindred  act,  but  spent 
itself  silently  while  she  rested  upon  Louis'  heart.  That 
very  fact  might  have  given  her  the  wished-for  clue  to  her 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  69 

labyrinth  of  miserable,  helpless  reasoning.  But  religion 
and  love  have  to  be  rediscovered  by  every  votaiy.  They 
are  not  sciences,  but  unknown  worlds,  where  neither 
atmosphere,  nor  light,  nor  one's  friends'  voices  are  like 
those  of  the  previous  existence.  Mollie  didn't  know  that 
she  had  a  right  to  this  perfectly  radiant  happiness  of  love. 
She  believed  that  in  a  case  of  two  diverging  paths  the 
thorny  road  was  unquestionably  the  God-elected.  But 
any  road  with  Louis  was  like  heaven,  and  we  must  not 
wish  for  selfish  ease  on  earth  ;  how  could  she  say  God's 
will  be  done,  when  He  might  not  be  willing  to  give  her 
Louis  ?  How  could  she  have  so  little  love  for  her  be 
trothed,  as  of  her  own  consent  to  leave  a  shadow  of 
possibility  of  his  loss,  by  saying  God's  will  be  done  ? 

Beside  her  religious  indecision,  was  a  second,  equally 
bitter,  bhe  would  have  followed  her  lover  without  a 
doubt  but  for  her  parents.  She  would  have  given  xip 
her  plighted  troth,  if  she  had  not  felt  from  the  depths  of 
her  soul  that  it  would  be  treachery  to  the  man  that 
trusted  in  her.  All  her  life  she  had  taught  herself  to 
feel  that  every  act  that  brought  a  shadow  to  her 
mother's  face  was  sin ;  and  now  each  sob  that  came  up 
from  the  room  below  made  her  feel  like  a  murderer. 
Could  her  happiness  bought  at  this  price  be  anything 
but  damning  guilt?  Would  God  bless  such  a  union  ? 
She  couldn't  be  married  without  God's  blessing.  Mollie's 
first  lesson  in  life  had  been  self-abnegation.  She  was 
not  the  woman  to  weigh  happiness  against  duty ;  it  was 
the  rival  claims  that  would  not  be  measured.  If  for  a  mo 
ment  the  lover's  scale  seemed  to  descend,  she  spied  herself 
thrown  in  to  turn  the  balance,  and  so  had  to  begin  afresh. 
She  could  never  get  beyond  her  heart-rending  premises. 
Hour  after  hour  passed.  She  had  been  over  the  ground 
stop  by  step  a  hundred  times,  and  gained  no  result  for 


70  SEIFTLE88  FOLKS. 

or  against.  She  could  not  be  false  to  Louis.  She  would 
not  be  false  to  her  mother.  Six  o'clock  struck,  and  she 
rose  from  her  knees,  where  she  had  thrown  herself  when 
she  entered  her  room.  Her  head  seemed  on  fire,  or  as 
if  a  great  wheel,  with  every  argument  a  spoke,  were 
revolving  there  endlessly.  She  was  hardly  conscious  of 
anything  but  this  frightful,  measured  revolution,  while 
she  got  the  supper,  and  sitting  torpidly,  with  her  own 
untasted,  waited  for  opportunity  to  clear  the  table. 
Her  father's  remarks,  put  always  in  the  mildest  form  of 
humble  suggestion,  her  mother's  peevish  fault-finding, — 
were  like  the  idle  wind  in  her  ears.  She  scarcely  heard 
their  voices.  Oh,  if  she  could  find  a  new  argument ! 
If  she  could  decide  from  the  old  !  She  hurried  back  to 
her  room  and  cast  herself  again  upon  her  knees.  "  My 
God,  be  merciful !  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 

But  God's  answers  are  vocal  in  future  circumstance. 
We  cannot  always  assure  ourselves,  in  such  moments  of 
mental  upheaval,  that  we  truly  hear  the  still  small  voice. 
She  would  have  to  fight  this  battle  again  and  again,  to 
morrow,  and  many  to-morrows,  before  the  answer  came. 
But  in  the  midst  of  her  agony  she  remembered  the 
phrase,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all 
His  benefits."  Reason  was  worn  out.  Mollie  clutched 
at  the  bare  adjuration  as  a  drowning  man  catches  at 
straws.  "  Forget  not  all  His  benefits."  Would  the 
Giver  of  good  withhold  the  one  good  she  craved  ?  She 
judged  Him  by  herself,  and  nestled  in  to  the  conviction 
of  his  pity,  resting  in  the  everlasting  arms,  and  loving 
Louis.  And  between  such  moments  of  extreme  mental 
tension  and  corresponding  nervous  collapse,  Mollie's 
inner  life  vibrated  for  months  and  months.  Her  balances 
were  too  equally  weighted  to  descend  on  either  side. 
Some  new  item  must  be  cast  into  the  scale. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  7J 


CHAPTER  Y. 

"  '  Good  mistress  mouse,  are  you  within  ? 
'  Yes,  kind  sir,  I'm  settin'  to  spin.'  " 

ITTLE  DOPPY  was  at  home ;  no  doubt  of  it. 
In  the  first  place  all  her  earthly  possessions  lay 
scattered  about  the  room.  Not  the  bar-room, 
but  the  one  behind,  where  the  family  living  was  done. 
Up-stairs  in  the  attic  dwelt  Johanna  Haverty,  with  her 
father  ;  and  the  back  door  opened  on  a  little  weedy 
garden  that  once  fell  in  terraces  to  the  river,  and  still 
boasted  two  or  three  knotty  apple-trees,  and  a  few  frag 
ments  of  stone  wall  supporting  the  ragged  turf. 

Our  heroine's  apartment  held  two  beds,  one  in  each 
corner  ;  a  rusty  cooking  stove;  a  chest  of  drawers;  one 
wooden  chair ;  a  greasy  table ;  a  picture  of  the  Virgin 
with  a  spiky  glory  about  the  head ;  a  market  basket 
with  a  ragged  edition  of  the  "  Police  Gazette"  in  the  bot 
tom;  a  few  musty  cobwebs  dangling  from  the  ceiling; 
an  old  hat  stuffed  into  a  broken  pane  of  glass;  and 
— Little  Doppy.  Stay :  I  have  omitted  two  kittens  fast 
asleep  on  a  dirty  shawl.  The  little  girl  had  been  eating 
her  forlorn  breakfast — three  or  four  cold  potatoes,  a  bit 
of  codfish,  a  piece  of  bread — all  that  ten  cents  would 
buy  at  the  back  door  of  the  Millville  House. 

Presently  she  arose,  gave  the  scraps  to  the  kittens,  and 
going  to  the  hall  stairs  called,  "  Joe  !  Joe  !  " 

In  answer  appeared  a  figure  very  unlike  Doppy,  for 
whereas  the  one  was  softly  colored  and  weary  in  look, 
this  new-comer's  bold  black  eyes  and  scornful  mouth, 
albeit  a  trifle  stained  with  tobacco,  were  the  personifica- 


72  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

tion  of  energy.  "  How's  your  father  ?  "  said  Dorothea 
in  a  low  tone. 

"  Sleepin',  as  you  might  say,"  she  answered  carelessly  ; 
"  you  needn't  look  down  about  it.  I  went  through  his 
pockets  and  he's  got  to  come  to  himself.  I  bought  a  bit 
to  eat  last  night,  so  I  ain't  hungry.  Goin'  pickin'  ?  " 

"  I  spose  so.  Must  do  somethin',"  said  the  child  in 
an  old,  spiritless  way.  "  I  be  sick  of  livin'.  I  wish  I 
was  dead." 

"  Whisht !  "  said  Joe,  tossing  her  handsome  head. 
"  I  ain't ;  I  tikes  to  live.  It's  jolly.  So  you've  kept 
the  cats  ?  " 

Doppy  nursed  one  of  them  on  her  arm  with  a  motherly 
motion.  "  Yes,"  said  she  doggedly,  "  -when  the  old  man 
comes,  I  puts  'em  in  the  closet  till  he  goes  again ; " 
and  she  glanced  scowling  at  sundry  blue-black  lumps 
that  decorated  her  neck  and  arms.  "  I'll  have  'em  now 
if  I  die  for  it.  I  do  wish  I  was  dead.  [This  in  a  busi 
ness-like  tone.]  I  see  lots  of  children  as  has  cats,  and 
dogs,  and  oranges,  an'  I  hain't  got  nothin'." 

"  Yon  do  look  pretty  rough,"  quoth  Johanna,  survey 
ing  her  with  a  patronizing  stare.  She  wore  one  brass 
ring,  a  string  of  beads,  and  hoops  in  her  ears,  and  so  had 
whereof  to  boast.  "  Be  them  all  yer  cloes  ?  " 

"  Yis,  an'  that  ain't  the  hull  neither.  I  had  a  dacent 
bit  of  a  dress,  and  when  the  old  man  come  home  he  took 
it  off  wid  him  quicker'n  that."  Doppy  snapped  her  dirty 
fingers  in  illustration. 

"No  wuss'n  my  old  man,"  quoth  Joe,  her  head  in 
the  air.  "  Divil  a  bit  of  work  has  he  put  his  hand  to 
for  better'n  a  week,  an'  he  drinkin'  an'  drinkin'  the 
hull  time.  Pah! — I  hates  the  sight  of  thezu  liquor 
shops." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  73 

"You  go  yoursel'  often  enough,"  said  Doppy. 
"  Wasn't  ye  after  lyin'  dead  drunk  in  the  road  last  night, 
an'  me  callin'  yc  to  return  ?  " 

"Have  a  chaw?  "  interrupted  Johanna. 

"  No,  I  hain't  none,"  giving  up  search  in  a  pocket  of 
complicated  contents.  "  Here's  a  cigar  end  ;  will  that 


"  What's  the  picture  ?  "  asked  Doppy,  rejecting  the 
proffered  courtesy. 

"  Nothin'  but  some  o'  them  things  they  gives  away  aa 
Nickson's,"  said  Miss  Haverty  with  contempt.  "  They 
gives  cloes  an'  a  dinner  onct  in  a  while.  Take  it  ;  only 
don't  say  where  it  come  from,  or  I'll  get  licked." 

Doppy  nodded,  and  bending  eagerly  over  the  card 
formed  herself  a  far  more  touching  picture  than  the  one 
surveyed. 

"  What  does  it  mean?  "  said  she  after  a  pause. 

"  Dun  know,"  —  Joe  was  ogling  herself  in  a  bit  of  look 
ing  glass  ;  "all  they  say  is  lies,  anyway.  It  might  be  a 
pilgring  —  a  man  as  walks  and  walks,"  she  exclaimed  with 
superiority. 

"  Oh  !  a  tramper  ;  see  his  stick  an'  pack.  Girl  alive  ! 
it's  a  travellin'  pedler  he  is,"  cried  Doppy,  a  light  break 
ing  over  her  face. 

"  No,"  remarked  Joe,  sententiously  ;  "  them's  his  sins 
in  the  bag  beyant.  Them  women  ain't  buyin'  ;  they's 
angels,  after  givin'  him  clean  cloes  for  his  pack.  I  can't 
say  what  they  does  wid  them  rags.  I've  seen  wuss  at 
Goodheart's.  Belike  they  sells  'em."  Johanna  carefulty 
picked  a  pimple  from  her  dirty  face  as  she  spoke. 
"  Teacher  said  they  was  willin'  to  give  'em  to  us  ef  we 
was  willin'  to  take  'em,  but  that's  stuff." 

"  Gosh  !   I'll  try,"  said  Doppy  with  resolution. 

"  They'll  no  more'n  put  their  noses  inter  the  door  ef 
4 


74  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

they  come,"  remarked  Joe,  rising  from  her  knees  with  a 
laugh,  and  setting  her  arms  akimbo.  "  When  they  see 
the  dirt  of  ye,  and  how  nasty  the  floor  be,  '  I  knows  they 
ain't  good,'  they'll  say  ;  '  folks  as  poor  as  this  is  always 
bad.'  That's  true  fur  ye ;  I  heard  that  Miss  Pelican 
criticism'  on  us  so,  myself." 

"  Then  I'll  fix  up ;  I  took  a  broom  the  other  day  that'll 
just  do."  So  saying,  she  dragged  it  from  its  hiding-place — 
a  new  one,  with  E.  McCross  cut  in  the  handle. 

"  You'll  have  to  quit  that  ef  you  expects  folks  to  give 
ye  so  much  as  a  pair  of  stockings,"  quoth  Joe,  swinging 
her  basket  on  her  arm  preparatory  to  starting  forth.  As 
she  drew  her  shawl  over  her  head  she  paused.  "  Ef  the 
old  man  wakes,  tell  him  I'll  bring  him  his  pint  soon. 
It's  better  to  give  it  him  at  home  than  let  him  go  out,  the 
job  to  get  him  in  bein'  so  hard." 

Little  Doppy  presently  completed  her  task  with  satis 
faction,  and  had  just  put  the  broom  up  in  the  corner 
when  Hugh  and  Amos  entered. 

"  How's  the  kittens?  "  said  the  latter,  hanging  himself 
awkwardly  against  the  side  of  the  house  and  blushing  his 
freckles  out  of  sight  entirely.  "  I  wants  to  know  of  'em 
sometimes." 

"  There  they  be,"  returned  Doppy  with  dignity,  "  lay  in' 
on  that  shawl.  Hain't  I  fixed  the  room  nice  ?  " 

Poor  Doppy,  her  labors  were  unappreciated. 

"  Nice  !  "  exclaimed  Amos  ;  <{  well !  that's  a  good  un  ! 
"Why  the  dirt's  under  the  stove,  and  the  quilts  is  crooked 
on  the  beds,  and  it's  as  nasty  as  pizen." 

Dr.  Johnson  says  the  truth  is  the  meanest  thing  peo 
ple  can  speak. 

The  child's  face  fell  like  lead.  The  pink  glow  which 
her  happy  thoughts  had  raised  faded  from  her  wan  cheeks. 
Her  brown  eyes  sought  the  floor  and  filled  with  tears. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  75 

But  when  Amos  concluded  with  a  mocking  laugh,  echoed 
boisterously  by  Hugh,  she  suddenly  regained  her  self- 
possession,  and  grabbed  the  broomstick,  on  inhospitable 
thoughts  intent.  "  Git  out,  you  mean,  dirty  Paddies," 
cried  she,  banging  the  door  after  them,  and  jumping  up  and 
down  on  the  floor  with  rage.  Her  blazing  glances  fell  oil 
the  offending  couches ;  so  she  tore  off  quilts,  sheets,  and 
feather  beds,  and  stamped  on  each  separately,  unheeding 
the  howls  of  her  beloved  kittens,  thus  suddenly  hurled 
from  their  resting-place.  Then,  finding  no  further  food 
for  her  fury,  she  tlirew  herself  atop  the  heap,  and 
screamed  in  concert. 

"  My  eye,"  quoth  Amos  from  without.  "  Ain't  she  a 
snapper !  "  and  he  did  a  double  clog-dance  with  Hugh 
on  the  door-stone,  where  all  the  flings  hit  the  frail  boards 
scarcely  held  together  by  their  rusty  hinges. 

After  a  while  silence  reigned  without ;  but  Doppy's 
sense  of  her  wrongs  grew  with  memory  and  vent. 
Suddenly  she  met  with  a  stoppage  to  the  auricular  index 
of  her  woes,  in  the  shape  of  a  great  lump  of  molasses 
candy,  which  Amos,  who  had  entered  unperceived, 
stuffed  into  her  mouth  as  she  opened  it  for  a  bigger  howl 
than  usual.  Unclosing  her  eyes,  hitherto  tight  shut  in 
the  extremity  of  her  grief,  she  beheld  a  good-natured 
grin  on  our  hero's  freckled  face,  and  the  remnants  of  his 
soothing  application  in  his  hand. 

"  When  be  you  goin'  to  stop  them  yowls  ?  "  asked  he 
in  an  agonized  tone.  "  Hurry  up,  do ;  there's  a  dear." 

Little  Doppy,  taken  by  surprise,  melted  at  the  kind 
act,  and  proceeded  to  unburden  her  heart. 

"  So  you  want  to  be  respectable,  do  you  ?  "  quoth  he, 
when  she  came  to  an  end.  "  That's  my  mind.  I've 
wanted  to  iver  since  day  before  yesterday,  when  Miss 
McCross  told  me  an'  Hugh — we  bein'  up  to  her  house  at 


76  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

the  time — that  she  hoped  we'd  have  as  nice  gardings  as 
her'n,  when  we  come  to  be  growed.  Punch  my  head  ! 
jingo  Pelters  !  if  I  don't  mean  to  !  " 

"  Poh  !  "  said  Hugh,  "  All  you'll  ever  see  flowerin'  is 
a  whiskey  blossom  on  the  end  of  yer  nose." 

Amos  shook  his  fist.  "  Git  out,  darned  son  of  a  gun ! 
I'm  in  arnest ;  "  whereat  the  intruder  vanished,  to  return 
with  a  sick,  featherless  chicken,  picked  out  of  the  gutter. 
"  There ! "  said  he,  hurling  it  at  his  friend ;  "  there's  the 
first  beginning  of  the  poultry-yard.  The  best  you'll  see, 
be  jabbers!  " 

This  cruel  taunt  led  Doppy  to  resort  to  the  broom 
stick,  which  was  an  effectual  weapon  in  her  hands. 

"  Now  let's  be  respectable,"  said  Amos,  as  she  came 
back  triumphant,  unmindful  of  the  familiar  strain  loudly 
chanted  at  the  corner — 

"  If  I  had  an  old  wife  to  bother  my  life," 

whereby  Hugh  revenged  himself  in  exile. 

"  I'm  in  wid  ye,"  returned  Doppy.  "  How  shall  we 
begin?" 

((  Spose  I've  got  to  go  to  work,"  answered  Amos,  reluct 
antly,  after  an  ominous  paitse.  "  Father's  been  blowin' 
this  six  months  cause  I  don't  do  nothin'." 

"  I  can't,"  said  Doppy.    "  I'm  too  little  for  the  mills." 

"  You  can  keep  the  room  clean,"  suggested  Amos, 
grinning  in  spite  of  himself  at  the  demolished  beds. 

"I  don't  see  how  I  can  iver  be  gitten  them  things 
back,"  with  an  oddly  humble  face  for  Miss  Mulligan. 

"  I  wouldn't  mind  helping  of  yer,"  said  Amos  bash 
fully.  "  'Tain't  nothin'  to  lift." 

"  You're  a  broth  of  a  lad,"  smiled  the  little  damsel ; 
and  so  awkward  Amos  tried  his  hand'  at  making  beds, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  77 

arid  other  household  lore,  with  wonderful  gentleness,  and 
great  comfort  to  both  parties. 

"  Oh,  how  dirty  the  flure  bees ;  sure  it's  a  log  flure,  an' 
niver  smoothed  at  all,"  said  the  maiden,  surveying  it 
with  a  disgusted  face. 

"  Why  not  wash  it?  I  see  mother  doin'  her'n  last 
month." 

"Who's  to  lift  the  heavy  pail  from  the  well  ?"  said 
Doppy  despairingly. 

"  I  will,"  answered  Amos,  with  heroic  resolution — 
thinking  inly  how  he  would  sprinkle  her. 

But  Doppy  was  no  bird  to  be  caught  with  chaff. 
Meeting  him  at  the  step,  she  took  the  great  wooden 
bucket  in  both  hands,  and  shut  and  locked  the  door  in 
his  face.  "  Ye'll  be  tracking  the  place  all  over  if  I  lave 
ye  in.  So  go  'long  wid  ye." 

In  vain  Amos  called  and  grumbled.  She  was  deaf  to 
his  entreaties.  He  had  to  content  himself  with  making 
faces  at  her  through  the  window.  But,  as  it  was  nec 
essary  to  stand  on  tip-toe  to  do  it,  the  amusement  soon 
lost  its  zest,  even  though  Doppy  returned  each  contortion 
with  a  worse. 

Joe  came  back  in  due  time,  and,  compassionately  offer 
ing  her  services,  the  two  dined  together  on  the  contents 
of  her  basket,  in  the  only  corner  not  deluged  through 
Doppy's  energy. 

Under  her  treatment,  though  streaky,  the  floor  became 
tolerably  clean.  The  stove,  too,  on  being  brushed, 
showed  faint  signs  of  blacking.  The  kittens  frisked  glee 
fully  in  the  yellow  sunshine,  and  by  this  time  old 
Mulligan  came  in,  and  was  pleased  to  say  that  he  didn't 
mind  about  them.  Doppy  cooked  his  supper  and  he 
went  out  directly.  Afterward  the  two  girls  sat  long  in 
the  renovated  apartment,  talking,  till  Joe  said  she  must 


f3  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

see  to  her  old  man ;  whereupon  Doppy  fed  her  kittens, 
and  laid  them  and  her  tired  self  into  bed,  and  presently 
began  dreaming  that  an  angel  made  her  wing-feathers  into 
brooms  for  her  especial  benefit,  and  then  cleaned  the 
room,  and  festooned  the  walls  with  white  dresses  and 
aprons. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"  Jack  and  Jill  went  up  the  hill." 

"  The  filmy  gossamer  now  flits  no  more, 
Nor  halcyons  bask  upon  the  sunny  shore, — " 

STATE  of  things — frequent  to  busy  people 
when  they  indulge  in  circumspection, — the  sad 
outlook  of  every  heroic  life,  as  a  matter  of 
course.  But  hopeless  indeed  must  be  the  existence  to 
which  all  places  for  pleasant  soul  loitering  are  forever 
closed.  The  limitations  of  humanity  forbid  the  bare 
possibility  of  such  a  case ;  least  of  all  was  Mollie,  whose 
feet  barely  touched  the  entrance  of  earth's  sorrow-filled 
labyrinth,  to  grieve  utterly.  One  may  sing, 

"  And  like  the  mountain's  golden  ore, 
Changeth  my  sorrow  nevermore ; " 

and  even  in  the  complaint  unwittingly  own  to  a  possi 
bility  of  brightness,  a  capacity  for  glittt  ,•*  and  shine  in 
the  sunlight ;  so  now. 

It  is  true  that  the  evening  after  her  lover's  summary  ex 
pulsion  she  cried  herself  asleep  ;  but  the  very  next  morning 
she  came  back  from  slumber  on  the  swell  of  a  Baltimore 
oriole's  matin  hymn,  sung  under  her  window.  Moreover, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  79 

it  was  no  common  bird  that  parted  her  dreams.  The 
mellow  notes  had  a  certain  dear  familiarity,  the  result 
of  frequent  and  admired  repetition.  In  short,  Louis  had 
not  been  able  to  leave  her  thus  in  sorrow  ;  he  had  climbed 
the  maple  that  veiled  her  window  from  the  road,  and 
was  administering  comfort  peculiar  to  himself. 

"  He's  neglecting  his  business  to  console  me ;  I  mustn't 
let  him,"  was  the  instant  self-reproof  that  came  to  his 
promised,  as  she  opened  her  eyes  and  smiled  with  pleas 
ure.  She  therefore  rose  hastily,  and  donning  a  daintily 
embroidered  dressiug-sacque  at  hand,  threw  open  the 
shutters,  and  greeted  him  with  a  blush,  and  glance  from 
her  bright  eyes  meant  for  reproach,  but  in  fact  only 
happiness  at  their  reprieve. 

"  What !  not  gone  ?  "  cried  she,  forgetting  dignity  to 
carry  the  kiss  he  tossed  to  her  lips. 

"  I  was  left,"  responded  Louis,  penitently.  "I  saw  the 
time-table  in  the  morning,  but  at  noon  I  forgot  when 
the  train  started.  Then  I  said  to  myself,  '  I  ought  to 
go ;  it's  my  duty ;  but  if  it  turns  out  that  the  hour  is 
three,  not  four,  I  shall  have  made  a  dreadful  mistake.' 
I  shall  have  to  take  the  owl.  Meanwhile,  I  know  you 
are  panting  after  the  water-brooks,  Heart.  The  one  on 
Turk's  Head  I  mean.  With  your  parents'  permission, 
we  will  start  at  three  o'clock." 

"  Come  in,"  said  Mollie,  beaming  approval. 

"  You  forget  I  am  forbidden.  I  had  to  climb  here  in 
the  tree  because  I  wouldn't  enter  the  gates  of — call  it 
Eden." 

Mollie  looked  at  him  a  moment  as  he  leaned  forward, 
half  hanging,  half  resting  upon  the  great  maple,  his 
lithe  youthful  frame  bending  to  the  position  with  easy 
grace ;  his  soft,  gazelle  eyes  meeting  hers  with  mixed 
sorrow  and  laughter. 


80  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  That's  a  pity  ;  I  was  just  comparing  you  to  un  oiseau 
de  Pavadis.  But  you  confess  yourself  nothing  but  a 
hangbird  after  all,"  she  said,  playfully.  "  I  don't  see 
how  I  can  talk  to  you  out  of  the  window,  either,  if  you 
consider  yourself  tabooed.  It  would  spoil  our  love  if 
we  did  anything  by  stealth.  I  shall  tell  mother,  and 
you  can  ring  the  door-bell  when  you  arrive." 

This  prim  little  speech,  delivered  with  naive  resolu 
tion,  seemed  quite  satisfactory  to  the  stigmatized  oriole, 
for  he  swung  himself  lightly  to  the  ground,  and  made 
obeisance. 

"  With  equal  souls  and  sentiments  the  same,"  laughed 
he.  "  Farewell,  sweet-heart."  Then  he  hastened  gayly 
up  the  street,  humming  Schubert's  song,  "  To  thy 
chamber  window  roving,  love  hath  led  my  feet."  He 
always  appeared  and  disappeared  thus  on  Mollie's  hori 
zon;  ever  delicately  gleeful,  or,  in  the  inevitable  dark 
days,  suffering  in  the  healthy  ingenuous  way  that  belongs 
to  unsullied  natures, — a  kind  of  pain  that  too  many  of  us 
look  back  upon  as  a  lost  luxury.  Perhaps  she  etherealized 
her  conception  of  him  overmuch.  But,  even  if  she  did, 
she  had  all  her  life  been  doing  the  same  office  to  his  ideal 
of  nobility  and  rightmindedness.  He  only  lived  the 
grace  of  her  love. 

That  afternoon,  accepting  her  mother's  sullen  silence 
for  consent,  and  sealing  her  father's  irate  lips  till  they 
yielded  a  furtive  blessing,  she  sallied  out.  Louis  made 
haste  to  hold  up  a  great  brass  key,  when  he  saw  her 
open  the  door. 

"  Plight  off  St.  Peter's  bunch,  the  Congregational 
string,"  cried  he.  "I  borrowed  it  as  I  came  along  for  a 
parting  melody." 

Half  a  mile  away,  across  the  river,  on  the  road  to  the 
Turk's  Head,  stood  the  queer  old  wooden  church,  with 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  81 

its  huge,  carved  mahogany  pulpit,  its  open  belfry,  whose 
floor  was  thatched  with  sailcloth,  since  the  conical  tower 
yielded  scant  protection  from  the  elements,  and  its  singer's 
gallery  fenced  with  faded  red  moreen  curtains,  behind 
which  Roaring  River  youth  chanted  "  There  is  a  fiery, 
dreadful  hell,"  long  meter,  and  coquetted  in  all  forms  of 
measure  from  time  immemorial.  In  these  sacred  precincts 
stood  the  common  darling  of  saint  and  sinner,  the  min 
ister's  pet,  and  Louis'  idol — a  new  Odel  organ,  with  three 
banks  of  keys,  and  innumerable  stops. 

Dulcet  Petibone,  the  schoolma'am,  presided  on  Sun 
days,  but  young  Allwood,  who  borrowed  Fred  Growing's 
key  and  played  there  many  an  hour  every  week — clerk's 
hours  before  seven  o'clock  summer  mornings,  felt  no  envy. 

Mollie's  office  was  to  blow ;  she  often  shared  these  mu 
sical  matins.  This  was  a  good  leave-taking.  Louis  would 
tell  her  all  his  soul  on  the  keys,  in  a  tongue  she  had 
learned  to  understand  from  childhood.  She  was  almost 
his  only  confidant  in  these  tone  revelations,  but  she  used 
to  think  that  no  words  could  explain  her  lover's  moods 
half  as  well.  Commonly,  when  he  was  troubled,  and  ob 
stinate  about  confessing  the  cause,  she  led  him  to  the 
nearest  instrument,  and  unravelled  his  secret  with  facility. 
"He  feels  thus,"  she  would  think;  "only  this  or  that 
cause  could  have  induced  precisely  such  emotion." 

To-day,  the  prelude  was  a  fuge  of  Sebastian  Bach's,  for 
practice.  Next  came  a  morsel  or  so  from  Handel.  Then 
Louis  drew  a  roll  of  manuscript  from  his  pocket,  and 
called  his  faithful  ally  from  her  post. 

"  See,"  cried  he  with  boyish  exultation,  "  here  is  a 
pot-pourri  from  Der  Freischiitz : 

"  '  Would  you  question,  would  you  ask  me, 
Whence  these  tones  so  wild  and  wayward, 
I  should  answer,  I  should  tell  you — Me.' 
4* 


32  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Me,  who  sat  up  till  two  o'clock  last  night  to  copy ; "  and 
ho  laid  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  bowed  theatrically. 
"  When  1  gave  back  the  piano  arrangement  to  the  Gone- 
cusset  scythe-maker  (he  brought  it  all  the  way  from 
Fatherland),  he  little  thought  that  I  had  the  best  of  it 
safe  on  paper.  This  is  for  Sweetheart— a  remembrance  of 
her  poor  music-scribbling  lover.  First  the  waltz, — now 
the  soldier's  solo, — here  your  favorite  prayer.  This  is  the 
place  where  they  cast  the  bullets.  I  have  put  in  every 
air — soldier's,  tenor  adagio,  orchestral  nourishes  and  de 
moniac  machinery  to  boot.  Finally,  the  Hunter's  Chorus, 
Rosy  Wreath,  and  so  on.  It  was  tout  bien  ou  rien. 
Now  listen." 

He  had  indeed  done  his  work  well.  The  whole  emo 
tional  and  descriptive  intention  of  the  author  had  been 
preserved,  and  he  put  it  on  the  organ  with  an  artist's  in 
stinctive  coloring. 

Mollie  mentally  followed  the  story,  and  shutting  her 
eyes,  fairly  saw  every  picture.  The  entire  scene  in  the 
Wolf's  Glen,  so  faithful  a  copy  of  midnight  in  the 
forest,  seemed  to  have  had  a  fascination  for  Louis.  His 
listener  shuddered  as  he  called  up  the  black  sky,  the  wind 
sighing  among  the  trees,  the  water  dashing  down  the 
steep,  the  devilish  counting  and  laughter  of  the  soldier, 
the  frightful  apparitions,  and  in  the  midst,  the  lover's 
tender  little  mother  vision. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  the  musician,  suddenly  breaking 
off,  and  speaking  with  an  eager  flush  on  his  cheek,  as  if 
he  wanted  to  be  reassured,  "  putting  myself  into  that 
huntsman's  place — smooth  bore — hunting  match — loss  of 
skill — Agatha,  Casper,  and  all — I  think  I  should  not 
have  refused  the  bullets  ?  I  couldn't  rest  last  night  the 

O  7 

music  echoed  my  thoughts  so.  I  felt  as  if  Top  Town,  and 
money,  and  the  liquor  trade  meant  just  the  same  to  me 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  83 

that  the  Wolf's  Glen  and  compact  with  Zamael  did  to 
Max.  And  you,  dear  trembling  conscience,  are  a  real 
Agatha." 

Then  it  came  to  Mollie  that  she  ought  to  make  a  final 
protest.  Not  that  Louis  would  stay  at  home,  but  for 
principle's  sake.  But  she  had  spoken  her  mind,  and  ac 
quiesced  in  the  decision,  and  she  dreaded  to  renew  the 
conflict.  Moreover,  she  by  no  means  classed  her  lover 
with  that  weak-minded  hunter.  Though  she  had  resolved 
to  be  strong  for  the  future,  she  had  already  yielded  the 
present,  and  even  now  had  begun  to  look  at  the  Cereus 
with  eyes  of  hope,  and  to  defend  it  to  her  own  sense  of 
right.  She  therefore  kept  a  miserable  silence. 

Louis'  delicate  intuition  caught  the  phase  of  affairs  at 
once.  "  O  dear !  "  cried  he  in  a  pretty,  harmless  petu 
lance  that  was  quite  his  own,  "  never  mind !  We  are 
going  to  the  Turk's  Head ;  you  will  hear  the  woods  tell 
another  story,  and  I'll  just  improvise  a  wee  bit,  to  take 
the  incantation  out  of  our  minds.  America  is  not  the 
land  of  superstition,  and  mission-struck  Mr.  Pelican  can 
not  possibly  be  metamorphosed  into  an  ill-natured  fox 
hunting  spirit.  You  are  to  be  Mrs.  Allwood — Top  Town 
must  furnish  the  wherewithal." 

Thereupon  he  gave  his  lovely  head  a  wilful  toss,  and 
began  to  play.  I  have  never  heard  such  another  master 
of  the  art  as  Louis.  His  long,  nervous  fingers  wandered 
among  the  keys,  waking  from  them  a  coherent  language — 
a  tale  all  fresh  and  simple.  Not  a  "  random  business  pat 
tering  and  groping  up  and  down  from  one  stop  or  key  to 
another,"  like  Hitter's  lament  over  the  prelude,  but  a  con 
sistent  following  out  of  the  subject  of  thought  uppermost 
in  his  mind,  enriched  by  brilliant  cadences  and  ornaments 
indeed,  but  never  yielding  to  them  the  central  idea. 
This  afternoon,  the  adagio,  and  the  soldier's  ferocious 


54  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  Wie,  Was,  ensetzen,"  were  persisting  themes.  Ninths, 
sevenths,  elevenths— nothing  would  lead  away  from  the 
dismal  glen  with  its  mantle  of  black  firs  choking  and 
shutting  out  the  sky,  and  the  incessant  plunge  and  gurgle 
of  water.  Euns,  trills,  cadenzas,  began  and  ended  just 
here.  He  pulled  the  Vox  Humana  and  struck  into  the 
prayer,  but  no  less  followed  the  vision — to  represent  itself 
in  the  accompaniment  of  the  recitative  with  weird  per 
sistence. 

"  Tell  me,  Forget-me-not,"  said  he,  abruptly,  "  do  you 
believe  your  thoughts  would  follow  me  into  danger  in  this 
fashion,  as  Agatha's  did  Max?  Would  you  hear  the 
forest  murmur  in  your  ears  every  hour,  if  I  was  in  a 
Wolf's  Glen  ?  O,  I  know  you  too  well  to  doubt."  And, 
as  if  the  answer  had  exorcised  the  demon,  he  took  up  the 
duet  in  Spohr's  Psalm :  "  Children,  pray  this  love  to 
cherish,"  and  in  returned  faith  in  his  untested  strength, 
hurried  into  exulting  harmonies. 

His  confidence  and  his  foreboding  alike  brought  a  pang 
to  Mollie,  this  sad  afternoon  of  leave-taking,  as  she  sat 
filling  the  organ  lungs  with  the  breath  that  he  made  ex 
hale  in  melody.  This  had  always  been  her  part.  Their 
world  seemed  to  her  like  a  Pygmalion's  statue,  which  she 
fashioned  and  lie  made  live.  Now  he  was  going  away ; 
elsewhere  he  must  find  nutriment  and  stimulant.  Hith 
erto,  their  emotions,  their  labors,  had  been  one.  His 
very  attainments  in  his  art  were  only  her  longing  for  him, 
which  he  realized.  He  was  her  boy  lover.  In  the  tears 
she  wiped,  gathered  as  much  motherhood  as  selfish  pain. 
Soon  Louis  throws  by  his  revery  :  he  has  guessed  that  she 
is  heavy-hearted  ;  he  will  comfort  her.  Then  he  plays  a 
volkslied,  strong,  earnest,  free.  Isn't  that  noble,  darling  ? 
That's  Mendelssohn's  last  Lieder  ohne  Worte.  It 
means  that  earnestness,  however  withstood  by  fate,  will 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  85 

make  way  and  conquer  at  last.  You  shall  learn  it ;  it  is 
not  difficult.  It  will  be  a  prayer,  we  will  say  on  the 
piano.  Now  sing  "  He  shall  give  thee  thy  soul's  desire," 
while  I  blow. 

These  were  Louis'  devotions.  Mollie  obeyed,  and  the 
pair  silently  closed  the  instrument  as  the  last  note  faded 
away,  and  together  they  went  back  into  the  sunshine. 
Louis'  gayety  returned  the  instant  he  regained  the  open 
air.  *'  Mollie  sweet,"  coaxed  he,  "  let  us  be  merry  to 
day.  We  were  miserable  all  night;  but  this  is  time  I 
saved  to  cheer  you.  You  must  smile  !  "  He  caressed 
her  hand,  half  imperious,  half  imploring,  and  then  ran  a 
bit  up  the  road,  and  frolicked  back  again  airily,  to  present 
a  captured  Camberwell  beauty,  the  fruit  of  the  chase. 

"  Let  us  make  a  scapegoat  of  him,"  suggested  the 
young  girl,  watching  his  struggles  with  a  pity  partly  born 
of  her  own  soul  pain.  "  See,  some  one  has  already 
brushed  the  blue  and  gold  from  his  pretty  maroon  wings, 
and  we  have  several  specimens  already." 

"  Agreed ;  wait  a  minute  and  I'll  oifer  the  invocation," 
said  Louis,  stopping,  and  moving  the  fingers  of  one  hand 
up  and  down  on  the  back  of  the  other,  as  if  working  up 
a  difficult  piano  passage — a  trick  he  had  learned  by  doing 
German  lessons  while  he  practised  exercises.  "  Ah  !  1 
have  it : 

"  '  Go,  harbinger  of  Autumn,  thou  mimic  of  his  robe, 
Fly  hence,  and  bear  upon  thy  wings 
The  care  my  Mollie  on  thee  flings — 
A  burden  very  light  to  carry, 
Since  care's  no  care  that  doth  not  tarry.' 

That's  not  so  bad  for  an  impromptu  epigram — you  smile  ! 
Then  it  was  worth  inventing.  You  are  lovely,  so.  Now 
I  can  be  truly  gay.  We  are  going  toward  the  brook ; 


86  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

there  is  dear  old  Atlas — I  can  see  the  name  we  carved 
on  him,  plain  as  ever." 

He  pointed  to  a  huge  square  rock,  full  fifteen  feet  high, 
which  towered  from  the  centre  of  a  bit  of  granite-strewn 
pasture,  like  a  gigantic  monument  among  a  host  of  little 
tombstones,  perchance  as  a  memorial  of  a  wrecked  life 
among  its  poor  dead  joys.  But  neither  of  the  lovers  felt 
any  longer  in  the  mood  for  such  sombre  fancies.  The 
stern  patriarch  seemed  indeed  transfigured  by  the  after 
noon  sunlight  reflected  from  his  gray  sides ;  a  flock  of 
birds  assembled  for  southward  flight  were  twittering  on 
his  summit,  and  bits  of  green  fern  nodded  from  all  his 
crevices,  and  scarlet  creepers  trailed  from  his  wider 
fissures  iike  favors  worn  at  a  ball. 

So  said  Mollie ;  and  then  laughingly  followed  up  the 
simile  :  "  An  Irish  ball,  I  declare  !  You  wouldn't  be  a 
quarter  so  sweet,  Louis,  if  it  wasn't  for  the  emerald  in 
you.  See  !  the  two  peach-trees  we  sowed  beside  the  old 
darling  are  all  grown  and  handsome.  He  takes  good 
care  of  them,  because  his  playmates  planted  them.  Do 
you  remember  how  we  tried  to  worship  the  sun  on  top. 
It's  black  and  streaky  yet,  where  we  had  the  altar." 

"  Yes,  but  we  roasted  corn  and  potatoes  there  a  good 
many  times  afterward.  I  stole,  and  you  cooked." 

"  Magnum  est  Vectigal  par  simonia,"  laughed  Mollie ; 
"  but  see  !  to-day  is  all  omens  ;  here  is  this  lovely  brake 
with  two  perfect  heads — one  for  you,  and  one  for  me — 
on  the  same  stem." 

Shrill,  childish  voices  followed  the  stillness  that  ensued, 
while  Louis  eagerly  examined  the  rarity,  and  a  boy  and 
girl,  tattered  and  dirty,  emerged  from  the  wood.  Marks 
of  a  tussle  with  the  blackberry  bushes  did  not  improve 
their  sunburnt  faces  and  arms,  and,  though  the  inevitable 
basket  carried  by  the  damsel  was  filled  with  masses  of 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  87 

fern,  golden  rod,  and  purple-fringed  daisies,  these  coarser 
spoils  were  evidently  taken  for  lack  of  better,  and  failed 
to  satisfy. 

"  They  bees  all  gone,"  was  the  boy's  melancholy  reply 
to  some  forlorn  complaint.  "Bad  luck  to  them  cows 
that  browses  on  'em.  They  bloomed  white  all  over  when 
I  came  this  way  froggin'  in  the  spring.  Seein'  yer  so  set 
back  about  it,  I  wish  I  was  a  field  of  roots  so  you  could 
dig  me  up  and  be  satisfied"." 

"  I  don't  want  to  grub  thistles,"  was  the  tart  rejoinder, 
in  suggestive  thickness  of  tone  ;  then  repentantly,  "  but  if 
you  was,  sure  I'd  still  be  the  bumble-bee  to  buzz  about  you." 

"  Why,  that's  Amos  and  Doppy  !  "  cried  Mollie,  from 
her  perch  aloft.  "  They  stopped  after  Sunday-school  last 
week,  to  ask  Peace  if  she  thought  roots  lived  this  time  of 
year.  She  told  me  of  it.  Of  course  there  are  no  flowers. 
She's  ready  to  cry  with  disappointment.  They  think  of 
nothing  but  the  garden  of  the  '  Solomon  Rodgers.'  " 

"  And  if  I've  a  grain  of  fellow-feeling,  I'll  go  to  show 
that  shambling  donkey  where  they  grow,"  added  Louis, 
ruefully.  "  Mollie,  I  believe  you'd  coax  me  to  hunt 
truffles  for  the  Dennis  pig,  if  you  thought  the  McCross 
refuse  didn't  fatten  him  well  enough !  Well,  I  shan't 
get  another  opportunity  to  do  your  pleasure — to  be  use 
ful  is  my  wish." 

"  You  certainly  are  one  that  loveth  all  things  best," 
answei-ed  Mollie,  fondly  meeting  the  smile  into  which  his 
assumed  expression  of  injury  melted,  with  a  bright  one 
out  of  her  heart.  "  I  had  only  got  as  far  as  compassion, 
but  you  spring  to  relief!  Here,  Doppy,  climb  upon  the 
rock  with  me ;  Mr.  Allwood  knows  where  the  roots  are. 
He  is  going  to  show  Amos.  Amos  won't  mind  your 
leaving  him ;  gentlemen  always  like  to  wait  on  their 
lady  friends."  , 


88  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

«  Thar !  look  at  that  now  !  "  cried  Doppy,  in  full  ap 
proval.  "  Yer  to  go  and  dig,  Amos,  while  I  play  leddy 
long  wid  Miss  McCross.  Be  keerful  of  me  basket,"  be 
stowing  the  horrid  wickerware  with  a  lofty  imitation  of 
Mollie's  method  of  granting  like  favors.  An  agile  shin 
ning  up  the  huge  boulder  followed,  but,  flushed  and  tri 
umphant  at  last,  she  took  her  place  beside  her  new  friend 
with  a  grand  spread  of  her  tattered  skirts. 

"  You  like  Amos  better  than  you  did  yesterday  ?  "  sug 
gested  Mollie,  when  her  eyes  came  back  from,  watching 
the  pride  of  her  soul  disappear  on  his  friendly  errand. 

"  I've  seen  worse  bys,"  admitted  Miss  Mulligan,  as  she 
played  a  kind  of  solitaire  peep-a-boo  with  her  bare  toe 
and  the  hem  of  her  dress.  "  I'm  not  in  a  peck  o'  nettles 
'bout  him  same  as  some  'ud  be.  And  if  I  said  I  tought 
him  bully,  you'd  go  and  tell,  and  he'd  make  light  o'  me. 
It  ain't  best  to  own  carein'  for  the  best  o'  min."  Her 
ten  years'  skin  and  bones  made  absurd  contrast  to  this 
astute  remark  ;  but  Doppy  was  far  too  earnest  to  notice 
the  twinkle  in  Mollie's  eyes.  "  Who  put  this  rock 
here  ?  "  inquired  she,  diplomatically  changing  the  conver 
sation.  "  It's  a  whoppin'  big  un  !  Amos  and  me  made 
out,  comein'  up,  that  them  little  lookin'-glasses  all  over 
the  stone  walls  must  be  for  the  Good  People,  (hough  we 
don't  believe  in  'em  noway,  if  Mrs.  Dennis  do  have  a  sil 
ver  pin  they  left  in  her  clane  milk  pans  in  Ireland." 

"  God  put  it  here,"  said  Mollie,  "  when  He  made  the 
mountains." 

Doppy  sniffed. 

"  It's  one  part  of  them,"  reasserted  Miss  McCross, 
gently,  "  but  not  so  pretty  as  some  of  the  other  kinds. 
They  are  full  of  little  red  stones  that  shine — garnets. 
Often  these  are  bedded  in  white  sand,  and  are  very  bright. 
I  shouldn't  wonder  if  there  are  a  few  hidden  here,"  and 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  89 

with  the  thought  she  jumped  up  and  uncovered  a  shelf- 
like  fissure  ingeniously  thatched  with  sticks,  moss,  and 
pebbles.  "  Ah,  yes  ;  so  they  are  !  "  fishing  up  a  nonde 
script  mass  of  chrysalids,  beetles,  geological  specimens, 
odd  mosses,  birds'  feathers  and  wings,  and  squirrel  skins. 
"  Mr.  Allwood  and  I  used  to  hunt  for  such  things  a  great 
deal  when  we  were  children.  We  made  our  hiding-place 
here.  This  green  stone  is  tourmaline ;  this  thin,  glassy  bit 
is  leaf  mica,  the  same  as  the  fairies'  mirrors.  See  these 
large  garnets !  This  red  stuff  is  iron  ore.  We  found 
some  greenish,  once,  that  we  thought  was  hornblende." 

"  In  the  rocks  ?  "  cried  Doppy,  her  eyes  as  large  as 
saucers. 

"  Yes.     I'll  tell  you  all  about  them,  if  you  like." 

And  the  botanists,  returning  with  their  baskets  full  of 
muddy  spoils  half  an  hour  after,  found  the  little  figure 
still  sprawled  contentedly  on  the  summit  of  Atlas,  kicking 
its  heels,  and  watching  Mollie  with  unabated  interest  as 
she  knelt  expounding  her  treasures. 

"  May  I  present  you  with  some  sassafras?  "  said  Louis, 
from  the  base  of  their  citadel.  "  Avourneen  delish,  come 
down,  if  we  are  to  go  to  the  brook.  I  have  helped 
Master  Daley  to  hepaticas,  lupines,  cardinal-flowers,  gen 
tians,  triliums,  mocassin-flowers,  clematis,  white  violets, 
adders'  tongues,  enough  to  restore  the  '  Solomon  Eodgers ' 
to  its  old  splendor." 

"  If  you  please,  ma'am,"  said  Doppy,  rising  and  mak 
ing  a  quick  knee-bend,  like  that  she  did  before  the  altar 
at  church,  "  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you."  Mollie 
was  astonished  at  the  soothed,  courteous  manner  of  the 
child  and  the  modest  blush  with  which  she  made  her 
thanks. 

"  Would  yo\i  like  the  stones  ?  "  asked  she,  instantly 
putting  herself  in  her  eager  listener's  place,  and  anxious 


90  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  rivet  her  wedge  till  another  opportunity  offered  for 

driving  in. 

"  If  you  would  be  so  kind,"  answered  Doppy,  coining 
the  polite  little  phrase  anew  in  literal  reply,—"  the  ones 
you've  explained,  till  I  tell  Amos  the  story." 

"  Come  down,"  cried  Amos,  all  bound  up  in  pride  of 
his  well-stocked  basket.  "  Sure  iverything  'ull  wilt,  if 
yer  so  schnaly." 

"  Why  don't  you  stand  at  the  foot  to  help  me,  same  as 
Mr.  Allwood  has  Miss  McCross  ?  "  asked  his  young  lady, 
her  soul  expanded  with  desire  to  live  experimentally  her 
new  ideal,  and  woman's  longing  to  teach  the  recreant 
swain  his  duty. 

"  Cause  he's  a  gentleman  an'  I  ain't ;  "  and  Master  Daley 
set  down  his  burden,  and  leaned  against  the  wall,  hands 
in  his  pockets,  with  invincible  obstinacy. 

"  Thin  ye  can  go  'long  alone.  I'm  going  to  be  respect 
able,  and  respectable  people  don't  shin  down." 

"But  I  have  been  waiting  for  the  honor,"  interfered 
Louis,  much  amused.  "Would  it  be  too  great  a  loss  of 
dignity  for  you  to  be  lifted  ?  " 

"  You  should  take  better  care  of  your  little  friend,  if 
she's  kind  enough  to  ask  your  help,"  admonished  he,  as 
Miss  Mulligan  was  deposited  beside  her  basket. 

Doppy'ci  large  brown  eyes  sparkled  with  pleasure. 
"  Do  ye  mind  that,  Amos,"  she  enforced  proudly.  "  Jest 
give  me  holt  of  that  handle ;  it's  too  heavy  fur  the  likes 
of  you." 

"  I  cackellate,  I'd  best  take  care  of  my  little  friend,  and 
do  my  own  liftin',"  parodied  Amos,  accepting  the  reproof 
good-naturedly.  Then  he  slyly  turned  the  tables.  "  I'm 
waiting  to  hear  you  say,  '  I  bees  obligated  to  the  likes  of 
ye,  Masther  Daley,  fur  yer  perliteness,'  same  as  Miss 
McCross  'ud  do  in  yer  place." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  91 

How  could  poor  Doppy  but  answer,  meek  in  woman's 
humility,  "  That's  thrue  fur  ye — ye  have  me  gra-ti-tude." 
and  feel  in  the  depth  of  her  soul  that  even  the  long  word, 
well  drawn  out,  could  not  compare  with  the  profound 
wit  of  her  shambling  admirer. 

Meantime,  Louis  and  Mollie  had  already  pushed  toward 
their  destination.  Black  Turk's  Head  rose  loftily  on  one 
side  the  road,  to  be  confronted  by  the  Christian's  Look 
out,  over  across.  And  beside  the  path,  in  the  little 
valley  between,  flowed  the  brook,  bending  downward, 
sylph-like,  as  if  to  lay  her  bright  hands  on  the  laughing 
face  of  Roaring  River,  busy  about  his  work  far  below. 

"  She  trips  on  rarely/'  cried  Louis.  He  loved  the 
dainty  stream — so  wild,  and  yet  coy  and  gentle,  beneath 
its  arch  of  maples  and  alders,  ever  straying  blithely  among 
its  huge,  green-mossed  boulders,  with  the  unfretted 
strength  of  persistence  that  nature  had  given  to  seem 
fairest  of  all  to  him.  "  Why  should  we  walk  stupidly 
where  humans  plod  along,  when  we  can  just  as  well  frisk 
on  the  granite  floor  of  that  Nixie's  palace,  yonder?  " 

"  Why,  indeed,"  cried  Mollie,  yielding  easily  to  his 
fancy.  How  many,  many  times  had  they  already  trav 
ersed  together  the  stepping-stones,  worn  round  by  the 
incessant  pressure  of  the  nymph's  feet ! 

No  lovelier  palace  ever  had  elf.  There  was  the  brown 
water  itself,  with  here  and  there  a  sunbeam  resting  like 
a  topaz  upon  the  Lurline's  vesture.  The  autumn  golden 
rods  and  daisies  bloomed  in  the  open,  beyond  the  faintly 
turning  arch  of  willows,  maples,  and  alders.  But  over 
their  heads  tangled  clematis  hung  in  sprays,  and  great 
bushes  of  poke  berries  vied  in  richness  with  the  graceful 
masses  of  bitter-sweet,  and  even  more  brilliant  clusters  of 
red  and  yellow  nightshade — for  it  was  a  patrician  Lur- 
liiie,  that  must  not  be  without  its  wicked  ways.  Here, 


92  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

too,  trailed  scarlet  woodbine,  in  its  fervid  flame,  another 
Dido,  mourning  after  her  lost  birds  of  passage.  Daws 
were  cawing  in  the  woods;  nuts  untouched  by  frost,  bxit 
shaken  by  overmuch  wind  o'  nights,  dropped  through 
the  hazy  autumn  air.  Now  and  then  a  partridge  roused 
from  its  cover  whirred  past,  or  the  sharp  crack  of  a  rifle 
on  the  other  side  the  hill  warned  of  farmers'  boys  on 
holiday. 

Louis  looked  about  him  with  an  air  of  perfect  relief. 
"  It  hasn't  any  resemblance  to  the  Wolf  Scbict,"  cried 
he,  drawing  a  long  breath.  "  It  is  our  own  dear  little 
stream,  in  our  familiar  New  England  solitude — no 
vinous  Neckar,  or  cascade  in  grim  fir-mantled,  bear- 
haunted  Hartz.  Do  you  know,  I  was  worked  up  to  that 
extent  when  I  finished  Der  Freischiitz  last  night,  that  the 
sight  of  an  honest  American  rattlesnake  would  have  been 
delightful,  as  reassuring  my  miserable  bewitched  self? 
But  see  how  the  Nixie  is  offering  you  a  seat  upon  this 
great  rock  in  tbe  midst  of  her  possessions,  and  this  little 
one  covered  with  moss  is  for  a  footstool !  Hear  the  water 
dive  under  its  arch  with  a  gurgle  of  welcome,  to  slide 
shyly  forth  in  that  clear  pool  below — 

"  '  O  solitude,  if  I  must  with  thee  dwell, 
Climb  with  me  the  steep — 
Nature's  observatory,  whence  the  dell, 
Its  flowery  slopes,  its  river's  crystal  swell, 
May  seem  a  span.     Let  me  thy  vigils  keep 
'Mongst  boughs  pavilioned  where  the  deer's  swift  leap 
Startles  the  wild  bee  from  the  foxglove  bell.' 

Ah!  thanks,  Mr.  Bullfrog;  I  was  just  wanting  your 
place." 

Mollie  sat  silent  and  happy.  She  loved  to  watch  her 
lover  in  this  mood.  She  revelled  in  his  delicate  sim- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  93 

plicity,  his  bright-hued  fancies,  his  culture,  faultless  in  a 
school  whose  standard  and  strictness  were  equivalent  to 
worship  of  beauty  as  the  revelation  of  law ;  or  law  as 
that  sole  arrangement  of  things  which  could  produce 
beauty,  and  hence  had  the  undying  joy  of  knowing  them, 
to  be  the  same  thing.  She  was  formed  for  activity,  for 
resisting  adverse  tides  of  thought,  habit,  mayhap  fate. 
SJie  was  his  repose,  because  she  did  not  waver  or  falter ; 
but  she  sought  in  him  an  every  hour  outlook  into  regions 
of  upper  air,  where  he  seemed  in  these  days  to  dwell. 
Words  from  her  would  only  mar  his  delightsome  humor, 
since  diverting  it  from  its  own  path.  She  had  no  need 
to  speak. 

"  I  am  going  to  relate  a  little  ditty,  if  you'll  forgive 
the  expression,"  said  he  playfully,  prisoning  her  with  a 
long  wreath  of  brilliant  woodbine  he  had  been  braiding 
deftly  during  their  walk;  "all  about  a  Lurline  here  in 
this  very  brook.  She  had  brown  hair  like  the  withered  fall 
leaves,  and  the  bits  of  blue  sky  mirrored  in  the  water  were 
exactly  the  color  of  her  eyes.  She  had  lovely  red  lips, 
too,  like  the  cardinal-flowers;  and  the  trailing  arbutus 
that  grew  near  her  banks  was  the  very  perfume  of  her 
breath ;  and  her  tunic  was  emerald  green,  spangled  with  a 
border  of  golden  rod  and  yellow  buttercups.  A  poor 
bullfrog  lived  in  a  hole  of  the  bank.  After  he'd  spent  a 
long  time  admiring  this  beautiful  sprite,  he  presumed  to 
offer  himself;  and  she  looked  with  favor  on  his  bright 
eyes  set  in  a  ring  of  brilliant  topaz,  the  only  beauty  he 
had,  and  let  him  spring  to  her  arms  in  a  transport  of 
bliss. 

"  But  it  began  to  be  winter  time  before  long,  and  he 
had  to  bid  good-by  to  the  lovely  Nixie,  and  seek  protec 
tion  elsewhere ;  and  she  promised  to  be  true — " 

"  Well,  she  was,"  interrupted  Mollie. 


94:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"I'm  afraid  not.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  when  the 
poor  fellow  returned  he  found  another  fatter  frog  than  he 
squatted  here  on  this  very  stone,"  persisted  Louis,  half 
teasing,  half  foreboding. 

"  Never !  "  cried  Mollie,  ardently.  "  Lurline's  true  name 
is  Forget-me-not ;  and  she  always  binds  their  turquoise 
in  her  hair  and  on  her  breast ;  there  are  some  now  just 
where  we  planted  them." 

"  That  was  what  I  wanted  to  hear  you  say,  laughed 
he  roguishly. 

"  Oh,"  said  Mollie,  piqued,  "  how  Til  allegorize  !  " 

"  If  it's  a  water  nymph,  wouldn't  alligator  be  a  better 
word  ?  "  suggested  Louis.  "  It  would  be  a  hint  of  war 
mer  weather." 

"  Just  as  you  like  ;  the  only  part  of  the  story  I  look  at 
is  the  moral.  Nixie  was  a  man  with  teeth  as  white  as 
blackberry-blossoms  and  sharp  as  thorns,  and  he  got  tired 
of  his  poor  froggie-wife — like  Johnnie  Sands,  and  one 
day  he  caught  her  nose  under  a  stone  and  held  it  there 
till  she  choked." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Louis  reflectively,  suspending 
his  occupation  of  knitting  a  blade  of  grass  around  two 
straws,  while  he  deliberated,  "I  am  not  settled  about 
Mr.  Sands.  Don't  you  think  that  in  spite  of  the  joy  he 
undoubtedly  felt  at  his  release,  the  horror  of  that  des 
perate  act  must  have  pursued  him  through  life  ?  " 

"  I  should  suppose  it  might,"  acquiesced  Mollie,  much 
amused. 

"  Yes ;  think  of  his  remorse,  and  the  shudders  of  his 
friends,  and  the  disgrace  accruing  to  the  Sands  family. 
What  a  weight  to  bear  !  " 

"  Perhaps  they  were  Quicksands,  and  didn't  try,"  sug 
gested  Mollie. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  95 

"  That's  a  fact,"  said  Louis,  receiving  back  his  coin 
composedly  ;  "  that  will  hold  water." 

"  That  kind  of  soil  usually  does,"  agreed  Mollie  again. 

"  At  all  events,  I  should  say  J.  Sands  ruined  his  pros 
pects  of  happiness  by  that  fell  deed,"  concluded  Louis, 
rising  as  he  spoke,  and  tossing  the  knitting  into  the  stream, 
to  watch  it  whirl  hither  and  thither,  till  it  finally  caught 
in  a  knot  of  orchis,  and  rested  quietly,  thus  moored. 
"  That's  a  good  omen,  dear  Lurline,"  resuming  his  gayety, 
and  springing  lightly  ashore.  "  See  !  true  love  knits  our 
separate  lives  as  the  grass  ties  the  straw,  and  our  fate  has 
come  to  good  harbor." 

Mollie  gave  him  her  hand,  and  submitted  to  be  helped 
over  the  rivulet,  though  she  could  have  crossed  it  alone 
with  perfect  ease.  It  was  her  choice  luxury  to  be  tended 
by  Louis,  equally  as  she  abominated  such  casual  gal 
lantry  from  others. 

"  If  I  was  a  bird,"  said  he,  smiling  to  her  thanks,  "  I'd 
rise  and  survey  that  chipmuck  I've  heard  rattling  behind 
us  this  last  half— Oh  !  " 

The  exclamation  came  down  to  his  listener  from  the 
designated  height,  and  she  was  naturally  too  much  startled 
to  divine  the  meaning  of  it,  till  a  strange  voice  cried  out, 

"  Well  done,  my  Fejeee  Bruiser !  I  never  landed  so  big 
a  fish  more  successfully.  Chipmuck,  indeed !  what  do 
you  take  me  for  ?  Hope  I  didn't  damage  your  coat 
collar." 

"  A  bear,  or  a  condor  !  Charley  Pelican  !  "  answered 
Louis  with  a  gasp,  "  I'll  never  think  out  loud  again." 

"  Or  court,  either,"  suggested  the  intruder.  "  But  I 
intend  returning  to  terra  firma.  Are  yon  similar  ?  " 

Louis  therefore  swung  himself  to  the  ground,  followed 
by  the  handsomest  Hercules  Mollie  had  ever  the  hap  to 
meet.  That  he  was  Peace's  brother,  she  did  not  need  his 


96  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

prey's  exclamation  to  discover.  There  was  the  same 
imposing  stature — Charley  was  at  least  six  feet  four — the 
blue-black  Spanish  hair  curling  a  little  in  ringlets,  not 
kinks;  the  bright  dark  eyes  of  a  perfect  almond  shape; 
the  brilliant  complexion,  even  the  Castilian  mouth,  with 
its  haughty  curves,  equally  handsome  as  Peace's,  since  it 
gained  in  mobility  what  it  lost  in  delicate  strength. 
Peace  repeated  line  by  line,  in  short,  with  this  difference : 
Mr.  Pelican  exchanged  sister's  stately  refinement  for 
infinite  dash,  levity,  audacity,  that  seemed  not  quite  so 
reprehensible  in  the  brightness  of  his  magnificent  beauty, 
as  they  do  in  uglier  men.  He  bore  himself  so  grandly, 
and  tossed  his  head  so  wilfully,  like  a  war-horse  impa 
tient  of  rein,  and  expanded  his  broad  chest  with  such  an 
air  of  power,  that  a  mere  look  at  him  quickened  one  to 
the  same  enthusiasm  one  feels  in  survey  of  Niagara, 
Bierstadt's  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Strasbourg  Cathedral, 
or  any  other  masterpiece. 

Now  the  two  characters  of  life  Mollie  hated  most  in 
those  days  were  Absalom  and  Lothario.  Louis  there 
fore  watched  in  some  trepidation  to  see  how  the  heir  of 
the  Pelicans  would  find  place  in  her  good  graces.  She 
was  full  of  pleasure  at  the  friendly  relations  augured  by 
her  lover's  sudden  elevation,  and,  with  her  face  bright 
with  laughter,  turned  to  meet  the  young  giant  of  whom 
she  had  heard  so  much.  Poor  Mollie  !  He  favored  her 
blushes  with  a  stare  as  full  of  curiosity  about  his  sister's 
I  pet  friend,  scrutiny  as  to  her  points  as  a  specimen  of  her 
sex,  and  merriment  broad  to  insult  over  the  gathering  of 
his  eavesdropping,  as  utter  carelessness  of  his  own 
behavior  allowed  to  concentrate.  Mollie's  cheeks  ex 
changed  the  flame  of  enthusiasm  for  the  more  painful 
brilliance  of  anger.  She  drew  herself  up  with  dignity, 
and  said  as  reply  to  the  condescending  cap-lift  vouch- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  97 

safed,  that  she  would  walk  toward  home ;  Louis  might 
follow  at  his  convenience. 

Mr.  Pelican  seemed  not  ill-pleased  at  her  wrath — in 
deed  he  chuckled  axidibly — and  told  Louis  he  envied 
him  his  sweetheart,  and  would  like  to  present  to  her  the 
results  of  his  shooting,  the  more  as  she  could  undoubt 
edly  freeze  the  birds  without  other  ice  than  herself,  and 
still  stared. 

"  No,  thank  you,"  cried  Mollie  indignantly.  "  I  am 
quite  as  well  aware  as  yourself  that  you  consider  us  as 
much  objects  of  sport  as  the  woodcock  and  partridges. 
It  is  a  mistake.  I  accept  nothing  from  strangers  whose 
manners  are  equally  lacking  in  delicacy  and  self-respect." 

"  Mollie  !  "  gasped  Louis,  perfectly  aghast  at  a  phase  of 
character  new  even  to  his  experience  of  her.  The  rebuff 
didn't  embarrass  Charley  at  all.  But  having  raised  the 
tempest,  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  task  of  allaying  it 
would  be  exciting.  "  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  he,  revo 
lutionizing  his  tactics.  "  I  stand  corrected,  and  now 
implore  your  acceptance.  I  dare  not  make  game  of  you 
and  All  wood,  or  the  birds  either,  any  more.  A  worse  hunt 
ing  ground  I  never  saw.  One  no  sooner  spies  a  fowl 
than — Jerusalem — he's  mired  in  a  quag,  or  choked  with 
alders,  or  tripped  on  a  nigger-head,  or  has  the  gristle  of 
his  nose  torn  out  in  a  blackberry  patch  ;  and  by  the  time 
he  gets  straight,  he's  been  despoiled  of  every  bit  of  boots, 
shirt,  skin,  temper,  bird  gone,  all  lost,  and  then  he  can't 
even  comfort  himself  with  the  sight  of  a  pretty  girl. 
Now  will  you  have  'em  ?  "  He  gave  his  magnificent 
shoulders  a  contumacious  shake  as  he  spoke,  and  defi 
antly  drew  his  three  plump  partridges  from  his  game-bag. 

"  I   am  not   pretty,"  said  Mollie,  in  a  matter-of-fact 
tone,  "  and  I  am  offended  because  you  had  the  impolite 
ness  to  eye  me  over,  just  as  if  I  was  not  entitled  to  re- 
5 


98  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

specfc.  I  do  not  wish  any  of  your  killing ;  there  isn't  salt 
in  Millville  to  make  the  dish  palatable."  The  words 
were  spoken  in  a  low,  even  tone,  not  expressive  of  anger, 
only  conveying  an  ordinary  piece  of  information.  When 
ended,  she  turned  to  Louis  as  if  intending  to  depart 
immediately. 

"  Snooks  and  sneezers  !  "  said  Charley,  watching  her 
with  enjoyment  by  no  means  malicious,  with  very  much 
the  pleasure  a  big  dog  has  in  chasing  a  ball,  and  rubber 
failing,  takes  up  with  chicken  as  substitute.  He  snatched 
up  Louis  thereupon,  and  holding  him  fast  as  one  would 
a  kitten,  jumped  upon  the  stone  wall,  thence  to  an  over 
hanging  chestnut,  and  wich  his  free  hand  steadied  him 
self  in  a  squirrel's  climb  toward  the  top. 

<(  Now  say  you'll  eat  my  birds,  if  you  don't  want  him 
dropped,"  he  called,  triumphantly. 

"  Not  if  you  carried  him  into  the  clouds,"  retorted 
Mollie,  beginning  to  descend  the  hill. 

"Jam  cliu,  jam  dudum ! "  said  Charley,  laughing  eas 
ily.  "  She's  as  perverse  as  a  thermometer  !  Which  is 
the  most  humiliating  to  her  delicacy — to  bandy  words 
with  her  slave,  or  forgive  him  ? "  and  he  returned  to 
earth,  and  keeping  fast  hold  of  his  burden,  pursued  her. 

Either  Mollie  must  run,  or  allow  herself  to  be  over 
taken.  She  preserved  dignity, — held  her  first  pace. 
Charley  only  made  a  dozen  steps  before  he  reached  her, 
set  Louis  gently  on  his  feet  in  her  path,  and  said  entreat- 
ingly,  "  See  !  I've  brought  him  back.  Now,  please  take 
my  game,"  and  smiled  as  he  looked  down  at  her.  No 
one  ever  defied  the  fascination  of  that  coaxing  mouth ; 
not  even  Mollie,  who  held  out  her  hand  for  the  spoil  in 
silence,  half  sharing  for  the  moment  in  Louis'  manifest 
admiration  for  the  trickish  giant. 

"  I'm  going  on  the  owl  with  you  to-night,"  resumed 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  99 

Mr.  Pelican,  addressing  the  young  man,  as  he  drew  a 
long  breath  of  exultation  over  his  success  with  the  lady. 
"  We'll  hunt  the  buffalo  together.  By  your  leave, 
ma'am,  I'll  pair  the  odd  partridge  before  I  give  him  up. 
Just  tell  Peace  you  don't  like  me,  if  you  dare !  "  and  he 
threw  her  a  kiss,  with  unmatched  impudence,  and  ran 
away  into  the  fields. 

The  path  toward  Millville  was  directly  opposite,  and 
Mollie  went  along  wrapped  in  thought.  She  had  paid 
humanity's  tribute  of  submission  to  embodied  perfection 
of  beauty  and  power.  But  the  reflection  that  this  potent 
spell-master  was  to  take  her  place  beside  Louis  was  at 
least  disagreeable.  And  Louis  himself  followed  her 
reverie  far  too  closely  to  care  to  ask  its  subject. 

"  The  sun  is  set.  See  the  mist  settle  over  river  and 
valley.  It  is  so  still  and  bright  hei*e !  if  we  need  never 
plunge  into  those  shadows  below !  "  said  Mollie,  breaking 
the  rest-full  stillness,  and  pausing  on  the  brow  of  the 
steep. 

The  spire  of  the  church  below  pointed  directly  to  their 
feet.  It  seemed  as  if  one  of  the  yellow  walnut  leaves, 
fluttering  down  from  its  tree  overhead,  would  cover  half 
the  town — fold  the  mills,  the  shops,  the  white  village 
homes,  the  century-old  elms,  in  its  tiny  mantle. 

"  Then  let  us  loiter  a  little  on  the  wall  the  other  side  the 
road,  so  we  won't  disturb  that  red  squirrel.  Millville 
looks  exactly  like  the  enchanted  city  going  under  its  lake 
for  seven  years'  sleep.  To-morrow  morning  not  a  tree  be 
neath  crest  will  be  visible;  silver  fog  will  make  a  sug 
gestive  water  study  of  it.  One  might  remember  Bancis 
and  Philemon,  and  shake  in  his  shoes." 

"  I  dread  to  go  back.  How  calm  and  happy  we  have 
been  this  afternoon  !  The  very  noise  that  ascends  from 
the  streets  is  refined  to  music.  That  bird  sinus  twice  as 


100  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

clear.     But  the  mist  will  hide  our  way,  perhaps  make 
each  other's  faces  dim.     O  Louis,  how  can  I  let  you  go  !  " 

He  took  her  hands  in  his,  and  bent  over  them,  his  eyes 
full  of  tears,  sorrowful,  earnest,  albeit  he  was  boyish  and 
simple  beyond  his  years.  Theirs  was  the  simplicity  of 
unity,  and  alas !  the  half-comprehended  misery  of  their 
parting  was,  that  it  made  twain  of  what  God's  Provi 
dence  through  a  whole  childhood  had  joined  in  one  life. 

''This  is  like  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,"  said 
Mollie,  accepting  the  clear  western  sky  with  its  one  fail- 
star  shining  serenely  in  lucent  sether, — way  beyond  the 
river,  the  solemn  hush  about  them, — the  peaceful  memory 
of  their  hours  together,  as  a  Heaven-given  whole." 

"  That  is  true,  but  one  cannot  build  tabernacles 
there,"  answered  Louis  reverently. 

Nothing  more  was  said  till  they  reached  Gonecusset 
Street,  when  Louis  threw  off  the  burden  with  a  jest. 
"  Ai-en't  you  sorry  your  capitalist  has  been  so  generous  ?  " 
inquired  he.  "  I  was  thinking  that  since  I  own  the  whole 
avenue,  pity  we  can't  occupy  any  of  it.  Here  is  Deacon 
William's ;  he  begged  it  of  me  till  he  should  be  so  blessed 
as  to  become  a  widower ;  and  look  at  his  wife  now ! 
Then  there's  Mr.  Bizby's  next,  my  especial  friend.  I 
had  a  singing-school  attachment  for  his  grandmother." 

"  But  see  'Squire  Hitchcock's !  that  would  suit  me," 
cried  Mollie,  demurely. 

"  I  really  couldn't ; "  and  Louis  stopped  to  lay  his 
hand  tenderly  on  his  ribs,  as  it  happened.  "  He  was  my 
messmate  in  the  war  of  1812.  I  couldn't  be  severe  to 
ward  a  comrade.  You  needn't  look  across  the  way  either ; 
that  is  the  saddest  case  of  all.  I  deeded  it  to  the  village 
for  a  common,  but  the  Spiritualists  were  the  only  people 
willing  to  enjoy  it,  on  account  of  the  name.  So  I  offered 
it  to  the  Presbyterians,  on  condition  of  their  calling  their 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

edifice  the  '  Short  Cut.'  But  they  said  such  an  idea 
would  undermine  the  great  doctrines  that  lie  at  the  foun 
dations  of  their  system.  So  it  had  to  go  to  Snip  the 
tailor  to  get  anything  cut  out  of  it  but  myself." 

"  In  short,"  said  Mollie,  smiling  bravely  as  she  opened 
the  Fir  Covert  gate,  "it  is  like  your  pet  psalm,  'Ye 
gentle  spirits,  the  world  is  all  your  own.'  " 

And  so  it  was — as  much  as  any  part  of  it.  God  be 
with  'em. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"  'Old  woman,  old  woman,  old  woman,'  quoth  I, 
'  Whither,  oh  whither  !  oh  whither  so  high  ? ' 
'  To  sweep  the  cobwebs  from  the  sky.'  " 

|N  a  wild-beast  show,  my  dear  readers,  it  is  need 
ful  to  have  an  arena — Patience  of  Hope  is  our 
arena.  In  a,  wild-beast  show  they  bring  the 
animals  from  far  and  wide.  Similarly  the  participants  in 
this  chapter  come  from  the  four  quarters.  To  a  geograph 
ical  mind,  how  commonplace  would  seem  attendance  at 
a  cock-fight,  were  the  preparatory  circumstance  of 
smuggling  the  fowls  to  the  pit  in  carpet-bags  unnecessary. 
But  how  delightful,  011  the  other  hand,  to  watch  a  polar 
bear  chew  up  a  tiger..  Here  is  variety!  The  poetry  of 
antagonism!  Precisely  like  is  the  habitual  enmity  of 
the  sleek  tiger  of  warm  prosperity,  to  the  shaggy  bear 
bred  in  the  frigid  experience  of  want.  Why  do  the  tiger 
and  the  bear  fight  ?  "  For  'tis  their  nature  to,"  Mr. 
Chadband ;  and  the  opposite  factors  of  a  mission  school 
take  no  new  departure  from  the  old  rule  of  class  hate. 


102  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Christ  love  affords  a  tournament  ground  for  more  pas 
sions  than  amity  comprehends,  all  the  world  over;  and 
the  bears  growl  and  show  hug  to  the  tigers;  and  the 
tigers  lick  their  gilded  coats  and  wash  their  complacent 
faces  after  banquet  on  the  ruder  foe,  six  days  in  the 
week ;  and  the  seventh  do  like  unto  it.  The  real  Christ 
in  a  mission  school  is  a  lamb,  equally  the  antipodes  of  the 
sleek  or  shaggy — a  lamb  cradling  in  his  master's  bosom, 
and  bent  on  errands  of  simplicity  and  peace. 

I  am  indebted  to  Peace  Pelican  for  the  above  disagree 
able  statement  of  the  situation,  and  while  I  proceed  to 
marshal  my  forces  into  line  this  Sunday  morning,  I  will 
remark,  en  passant,  that  the  originator  thereof  prided 
herself  on  being  a  tiger,  but  admired  Mary  McCross  as  a 
lamb,  and  considered  it  a  root  of  offence  in  Francis  Hay- 
thorne  that  he  manifested  no  agnus  of  nature  or  habit. 
She  had,  moreover,  been  heard  to  mention  wolves  and 
sheep-skins,  and  similar  objects,  unconnected  (?)  with  Mr. 
Nixon,  the  superintendent;  and  his  habit  of  knocking 
down  his  scholars  with  a  heavy  fist  invariably  induced 
her  to  add  bete  to  the  list  of  his  descriptive  nouns. 

The  Sabbath  of  our  chapter  dawned  clear  and  breath 
less,  laden  with  the  heavy  spice  odors  of  great  beds  of 
tuberoses  and  chrysanthemums  at  Fir  Covert,  stifling 
amid  the  squalor  and  pigs  of  Syllabub. 

But  it  was  Lord's  Day  down  there  after  all.  The 
white  sunshine  streamed  over  the  uncouth  comfortless 
buildings,  into  greasy  windows,  and  reeking  cellars,  as 
brightly  as  ever  it  did  upon  the  broad  bend  of  Roaring 
River,  fringed  with  willows  and  nestling  among  softly 
sloping  pastures.  Here  and  there  a  yellow  butterfly 
fluttered  across  the  road.  The  very  gutters  sparkled; 
and  the  great  heap  of  dock  that  flourished  by  Doppy's  front 
door  was  brilliant  with  dew-drops.  Devout  old  women  in 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  103 

a  double  head-gear  of  cap  frill  and  sun-bonnet ;  spruce 
young  girls  in  their  stiffly  ironed  muslins,  and  gay  young 
fellows  in  Sunday  broadcloth,  wended  their  way  toward 
the  church,  whose  far-off  bells  you  could  hear.  As 
Bridget  told  Mary  McCross,  "  that  same  whose  spire 
reached  nearer  to  heaven  than  ary  another  in  the  place." 
There  is  something  about  the  Sabbath  atmosphere 
that  marks  it  from  common  times.  We  may  philoso 
phize  it  away,  but  our  souls  acknowledge  it.  Sunday  is 
the  Rachel's  Child  in  the  week,  and  now,  as  of  yore,  goes 
clad  in  the  festal  garment ;  its  sweetly  discordant  bells 
sound  in  our  hearts,  calling  to  rejoicing.  Under  our 
windows  comes  the  joyful  tramp  of  the  multitude  that 
keep  holiday.  Through  the  open  gates  of  heaven  streams 
the  sun,  whose  beams  are  equally  strength  and  peace. 
Looking  thereon  we  feel  the  Son  of  Righteousness  arise 
in  our  hearts,  with  healing  in  his  wings.  Our  voices  are 
soft,  for  it  is  the  Sabbath  ;  and  our  faces  calm,  for  this 
day  God  dwells  recognizably  among  us.  The  heat  and 
cold,  the  breeze  and  calm,  are  in  no  wise  changed.  The 
grasshoppers  shriek  in  the  fields,  and  the  swallows  stir 
under  our  eaves,  as  alway ;  but  once  more  peace  and 
good- will  toward  men  enact  their  miracle  ;  and  Ambrosia 
foams  Bancis'  earthen  pitcher,  and  Philemon's  poor 
cottage  stretches  away  into  marble  halls. 

The  above  was  the  ipse  dixit  of  Mary  McCross,  as  she 
looked  out  picture-books  in  the  library,  whereon  to  hang  a 
thread  of  moral  story  at  Patience  of  Hope. 

I  am  sorry  to  add  that  no  similar  train  of  thought 
occurred  to  Amos  Daley,  as  he  swaggered  toward  the 
meadows  so  much  affected  by  his  penny-pitching  asso 
ciates. 

It  had  been  too  hot  for  Amos  to  sleep  that  sultry  Sun 
day.  When,  therefore,  he  had  drawn  on  his  trousers 


104  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

and  scratched  his  head  with  his  mourning  finger-nails, 
he  was  ready  for  action.  He  lived  in  the  third  story, 
left  hand,  back  tenement,  of  the  Chain  Locker  on  Eiver 
Street.  He  had  six  younger  relations,  including  an  or 
phan  cousin — and  but  one  shirt. 

Nor  was  our  rhapsody  followed  by  any  single  idea  in  the 
indolent  brain  of  Francis  Haythorne  :  outstretched  on  his 
chintz-covered  sofa,  and  combating  a  dreamy  intention 
to  practise  Lohengrin ;  making  the  rose-water  in  his 
nargileh  bubble  and  boil  the  while,  and  occasionally  glanc 
ing  at  a  copy  of  "  Origin  of  Species  "  in  his  hand.  Just 
then  the  door-bell  rang,  and  a  serving  man  entered  the 
room. 

"  If  you  please,  sah,"  said  he,  wiping  his  dripping 
face,  and  smiling,  perhaps  in  delight  at  breaking  in  on  so 
much  cool  comfort,  "  Missus  say  Mary  Ann  be's  sick, 
and  she  wants  you  to  come  and  proscribe." 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  Mary  Ann?  "  said  the  dis 
turbed  physician,  keeping  his  finger  on  a  pigeon  experi 
ment  page,  and  surveying  the  intruder  languidly. 

"  Missus  'clare  she  have  a  high  fever,  and  she  be  in 
great  flurry.  She  thinks  her  eyes  is  rolled  up  in  her 
head.  She  said  for  me  to  wait  and  bring  you."  The 
darkey  grinned  again. 

Francis  Haythorne  looked  at  the  thermometer,  and 
wished  it  was  cool  enough  to  kick  his  black  insolence 
out  of  doors.  It  proved  only  a  passing  feeling,  however, 
forgotten  while  he  cai-essed  his  curling  beard  with  his 
soft  white  hand,  and  reviewed  the  conflicting  claims  of 
Wagner,  temptingly  open  on  the  flower-decked  piano, 
and  Esculapius  hot,  dusty,  and  beset  with  worry.  "Rolled 
up  in  her  head !  "  What  if  the  detested  infant  had  con 
gestion  of  the  brain,  and  should  die  on  his  hands,  to  make 
him  turn  cold  on  hot  days,  and  hot  on  cold  days,  forever. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  105 

"  I'll  tell  you,  John,"  said  he,  calmly,  turning  just 
enough  to  look  the  man  in  the  face,  and  not  a  hair's- 
breadth  more  ;  "  you've  made  a  mistake.  The  person 
you  were  sent  to  lives  just  across  the  street.  Don't  you 
remember  it  was  Jenkens  ?  Here's  a  quarter  for  your 
trouble ; "  whereupon  he  returned  to  consideration  of 
rock  pigeons  and  pouters,  and  the  bubbling  nargileh  seemed 
to  murmur  approbation  of  this  settlement  of  the  case. 

Peace  Pelican,  screened  behind  the  Jenkens'  half-closed 
parlor  blinds,  looked  straight  into  the  shady  window 
opposite,  saw  the  colloquy,  watched  the  man  approach 
and  ring  the  home  door-bell,  and  listened  attentively  to 
a  redescription  of  the  wretched  infant's  situation,  which 
by  the  way  was  obviated  by  a  dose  of  eau  sucre.  The 
young  beauty's  lip  curled  with  contempt.  She  felt  glad 
to  find  a  chance  to  despise  the  self-sufficient  red-haired. 
True,  she  held  it  unladylike  to  walk  down  town  in  a  hot 
day.  She  liked  to  array  herself  elegantly,  and  practise 
the  fan  exercise  to  admiration,  and  smile  at  the  moths 
caught  in  the  current ;  she  revelled  in  perfumes,  and 
exulted  in  her  ivory  nail  files  and  powders.  But  some 
how  the  two  sorts  of  goose  did  not  seem  exactly  benefited 
by  the  same  sauce.  Peace  could  not  help  thinking  tough 
ness  a  virtue  in  ganders,  whatever  might  be  the  case  with 
the  pretty  white  feminine  fowl  she  compared  to  herself. 
She  resolved  to  set  this  delicately  before  the  eyes  of  the 
lazy  medicine  man ;  and  arranged  herself  with  extraor 
dinary  care  for  "  Patience  of  Hope,"  as  she  thus  decided. 
When  Peace  wished  to  strengthen  a  good  purpose,  or 
unravel  a  knotty  problem,  she  always  began  by  adorning 
herself  to  a  perfection  of  toilette.  It  facilitated  her 
reasoning. 

Everything   about   the    McCross   mansion   seemed  to 

5* 


-|06  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

have  fallen  asleep  long  ago,  and  to  be  still  drowsy  with 
its  long  nap— taken  while  the  outside  world  had  gone  on 
changing  its  face  and  fashions  in  its  own  scrambling, 
pushing,  bustling  way. 

It  was  a  quaint  wood  cottage,  set  some  distance  from 
the  street  behind  its  hedge  of  fir-trees ;  a  cottage  full 
of  angles  and  additions  that  rambled  back,  growing  less 
and  less,  till  it  ended,  like  most  human  handiwork,  in 
smoke.  And  the  hams  and  shoulders,  done  in  this  hum 
ble  termination  of  greater  things,  were  not  without  fame 
in  the  country  thereabout. 

A  wide  piazza  ran  across  the  face  of  the  house — dis 
orderly  beyond  parallel  in  the  presence  of  a  forgotten 
broom  corn.  Its  front  was  overhung  by  wisteria  and 
woodbine,  clematis,  and  a  rare  Miller's  Burgundy  grape, 
now  spreading  its  small  compact  clusters  athwart  the  en 
trance  half  shyly,  and  yet  withal  in  the  modest  boldness 
of  merit.  About  the  piazza  lay  a  narrow,  box-edged  bed, 
full  of  tender  crimson-tipped  daisies,  violets,  and  heart's- 
ease.  A  patch  of  camomile  green  and  aromatic  re 
posed  near  by.  Away  one  side  stretched  an  old-fashioned 
garden  full  of  roses,  and  portulaca,  fritillarias,  escholt- 
zia,  painted  ladies,  and  Turk's  caps.  There  grew  flaunt 
ing  crimson  cock's-combs,  and  great  African  marigolds  in 
autumn,  and  early  crocuses,  and  hoop  petticoats,  and 
snow-flakes,  at  the  first  vanishing  of  winter. 

At  this  moment  Mary  McCross  was  descending  the 
steps  on  her  way  to  mission  school.  Her  arms  were  full 
of  books  and  her  hands  of  flowers.  Patience  of  Hope 
was  to  shine  right  brilliant  with  its  Lord's  Day  Blossoms. 
All  Millville  and  Roaring  River  taught  there,  and  a  dear, 
delightfully  wicked  school  it  was.  Deep  in  a  brown 
study,  touching  the  story  of  Goliath  as  an  illustration  of 
faith,  Mollie  approached  the  scene  of  her  labors. 


fWTFTLEKS  FOLKS. 


107 


"  Darned  if  she  don't  study  all  them  books,"  cried  a 
voice  in  her  ear,  and  waking  up,  she  found  half  a  dozen 
boys  staring  at  her.  The  trumpet  unquestionably  gave 
no  uncertain  sound.  Prepared  thereby  for  battle,  Mollie 
instantly  smiled,  and  invited  them  all  in. 

"  Might  as  well  go  to  hell,  and  I'd  as  lief,"  shrieked  a 
ten-year-old  theologian.  But  Amos,  who  had  loafed  up 
to  the  school,  overheard,  and  knocked  him  down  on  the 
spot. 

"  I'm  goin'  in,  boys ;  who's  afeard  ?  "  said  he,  scoffingly ; 
and  in  a  minute  they  were  all  seated  about  the  young 
lady,  as  ragged  and  dirty  a  group  as  ever  happy  teacher 
possessed. 

The  chivalry  that  led  Master  Daley  to  insure  the  class, 
prompted  him  to  keep  it  in  order.  He  had  a  charge  on 
his  mind  also.  Little  Doppy,  whose  imagination  was 
still  fired  with  visions  of  "  clean  does,"  had  resolved  to 
attend  and  win.  Indeed,  a  scuffle,  and  blows,  and  shrill 
childish  curses,  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  already  betrayed 
her  vicinity. 

Amos,  in  fact,  might  have  been  seen  at  the  "  Solomon 
Kodgers  "  that  morning,  detailing  the  delights  of  Patience 
of  Hope,  with  a  tortoise-shell  kitten  nestling  in  his  neck, 
and  its  mate  curled  up  in  the  crown  of  his  hat.  The 
picture  of  the  caressing  furry  pet  rubbing  her  sides 
against  the  apple-cheeks  of  the  awkward  lad,  was  sweet 
to  Doppy,  though  Joe  Haverty,  who  was  present,  did  turn 
up  her  nose.  It  was  the  pleasantness  of  the  memory, 
more  than  anything  else,  that  brought  Dorothea  to  the 
salle  defendu  of  the  mission-school. 

"  She  shall  come  up  !  let  her  'lone,  or  I'll  punch  your 
head,"  cried  Amos,  leaping  the  balustrade  and  darting  to 
the  door.  Then,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  drew 
Doppy,  sobbing  defiance,  from  the  smutty  clutches  of 


108  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Aleck  and  Christie  Malone,  and  half  dragged  her  in  his 
hurry  to  the  class  of  Mary  Ann  Williams.  "  You  be  a 
good  lady,  and  she'll  rest  content  wid  ye,"  said  he 
decidedly,  and  vanished  without  further  preamble. 

The  people  teaching  in  the  room  that  day  were  our  old 
friends.  The  Irish  beauty  with  a  whole  seat  of  boys 
bigger  than  she,  was  Sonsie  Eagan,  and  Sabrina  Bradshaw 
sat  next,  with  another  just  like  it.  Opposite  her  was 
Miss  Williams,  and  beyond  her  Zoe  Walsingham.  Jan 
Vedder  kept  the  door,  for  quiet  was  not  the  order  of  the 
day  at  Patience  of  Hope,  Chris  Goldsmith's  name,  and 
decidedly  appropriate. 

School  opened  with  a  song — White  Robes.  Amos 
intoned  all  on  one  note,  and  looked  complacently  at  his 
agonized  teacher.  Then  Mr.  Nickson  offered  a  prayer — 
a  long  one.  Directly  a  stream  of  whispers  came  over  to 
Miss  McCross.  "  Go  away,  musketer.  We  has  enough 
of  ye  at  home.  Say,  Miss,  I  had  a  musketer  in  my  hand 
once  and  I  squashed  him."  Alas  for  Mollie!  insect 
jewelry  was  all  the  rage  in  Millville.  Just  then  Zoe  gave 
a  convulsive  giggle.  Chancing  to  steal  a  look  at  the 
unbowed  heads  before  her,  instantly  each  black  little  hand 
sought  its  owner's  face,  and  one  bright,  mischievous  eye 
blinked  through  in  merry  mimicry.  Mr.  Nickson  closed 
with  Our  Father.  We  give  the  version  Hugh  re 
peated  : — 

"  Our  Father  who  art  hi  New  Haven, 
I  paid  all  my  debts  square  and  even. 
Thy  kingdom  come  with  a  big  jug  of  rum, 
If  I  didn't  pay  all,  at  least  I  paid  some." 

"  Say  !  "  said  a  tall  boy  in  Miss  Eagan's  class,  when 
the  devotions  were  over,  "  Nickson,  an'  Vedder,  an' 
Bradshaw,  beats  all  the  fellers  I  ever  hear  pray." 

"Pooh  !  "  returned  his  coinrade.     "  Never  mind  him, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  109 

Miss  Eagan ;  he's  jest  greased  his  head  with  his  mother's 
lamp  ile,  an'  don't  know  what  he's  sayin'." 

Meantime,  Mary  McCross  was  surveying  her  wriggling, 
uneasy,  mischief-loving,  sham-hating  urchins.  Most 
people  would  have  been  intimidated  by  their  ring-leader 
alone.  You  must  have  seen  Amos  to  appreciate  him. 
Preparatory  for  school  he  had  assumed  full  dress,  and 
his  long,  wide-skirted  coat,  of  ministerial  cut,  was  built 
for  a  Falstaff.  It  was  ornamented  profusely  with  horn 
and  white  porcelain  buttons,  he  had  turned  its  sleeves 
back  half  up  his  arms,  and  its  collar  was  ripped  off,  and 
hung  down  his  back.  His  trousers  were  fastened  to  his 
waist  by  an  old  rope,  and  their  tatters  but  half  concealed 
his  sturdy  limbs.  His  keen,  blue-gray  eyes  sparkled 
under  their  heavy  black  brows,  and  his  lips  closed  over 
a  row  of  tobacco-stained  teeth  as  regular  as  beads.  In 
any  but  his  present  attitude  of  protector,  he  would 
indeed  have  been  formidable,  for  he  possessed  the  reso 
lute  will  and  quick  impulsive  daring  that  makes  a  lad  a 
leader  anywhere.  But  Miss  McCross  was  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  he  wojuld  give  her  a  quiet  class,  and  had 
her  own  theory  of  insuring  this  result. 

(l  Boys,"  began  she,  ''  I'll  tell  you  about  David  to-day." 

"  We've  heard  that  once,"  said  Hugh,  with  strong  dis 
approbation. 

"  "Well,  of  heaven  then.  What  do  you  suppose  they 
live  on  ?  "  A  dread  pause,  till  Aleck  suggested  "  pea 
nuts,"  with  a  giggle,  whereat  Hugh  brought  out  some  in 
a  paper  and  passed  them  ronnd.  But  Amos  nabbed  and 
suppressed  the  dainty  in  calm  resolution.  "  You  shan't 
plague  the  lady,"  cried  he,  a  warning  flash  in  his  eye. 
"  They  don't  have  iiothin'  to  eat  there." 

Mollie  smiled  encouragement,  but  Hugh  rejoined,  with 
great  composure,  "  Then  they  must  be  thin  as  shadders." 


HO  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  Tell  us  the  boat  story,"  said  Barney  O'Hara,  who  had 
been  there  often.  But  Noah's  adventures  were  brought 
to  a  sudden  stand-still. 

"  You  say  the  whole  world  was  one  big  pond,  as 
deep  as  Roaring  River  pond  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,  deeper,"  said  unsuspecting  Mollie. 

"  O  !  what  a  bully  place  to  swim,"  cried  Aleck,  draw 
ing  a  long  breath. 

"  They  chew  tobacco  in  heaven,  don't  they  ?  "  said 
Hugh,  offering  Miss  McCross  some. 

"  Why,  I'm  surprised ;  I  thought  they  did." 

"  I  chew  to  keep  the  hunger  off,"  put  in  white-faced 
Barney.  Seeing  the  drift  of  the  matter,  Mollie  began  a 
long  story  about  Anderson's  "  Match  Girl,"  and  Kingsley's 
"  Three  Fishers,"  and  soon  pointed  her  morals  to  a  thor 
oughly  interested  audience. 

"  This  picture  is  about  Ananias  and  Sapphira,"  said 
Cymbalinus  Adolphus  to  his  boys.  "  Ananias  is  the  man, 
and  Sapphira  is  the  woman.  They  told  a  lie  and  fell 
down  dead !  Suppose  you  should  tell  a  lie  and  fall  down 
dead  !  Now  !  "  said  Mr.  Brown,  solemnly,  "  what  do 
you  believe  became  of  them  ?  " 

"  Went  to  hell,  and  be  d — d  to  'em,"  said  a  rough-look 
ing  fellow.  "  Bet  they're  hot  enough  now." 

"  If  you  please,  sir,  I  burned  myself  all  over  once 
with  kerrycene,"  put  in  a  lad  with  merry  eyes.  "  I  was 
awful  sick." 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  sorry,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  doing  the  sympa 
thetic.  "  What  did  you  put  on  it  ?  " 

"It's  the  biggest  lie  I  ever  told  in  my  life,  and  I 
ain't  dead  either." 

Old  Miss  Petingil  came  grimly  in  one  day  and  took  a 
class.  "Do  you  lie?  "  quoth  she. 

"  Yes'm." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  HI 

"  I  stole  your  tom-cat's  kittens,"  confessed  one  rascal. 

"Peculiar!  how  folks  ken,"  said  the  maiden,  drawing 
back  from  the  faces  that  were  eying  her  with  malicious 
grins. 

(t  Mebbe  you  swear  too  ?  " 

"  Look-a-here,  old  woman,"  said  one,  "I'll  lay  ten  cents 
agin  your  best  bonnet,  that  I  can  beat  you  any  day." 

"  Drefful  strange,  I  allow !  "  quoth  the  spinster. 
"  You  wicked  boy,  don't  you  know  liars  and  swearers 
are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't,  but  I'll  tell  you  one  thing  ;  ef  you  don't 
speak  civil,  you'd  better  git,  fur  we  ain't  goin'  to  stand  it." 

Thereat  the  poor  lady  rose  in  a  fright  and  ambled  away. 

Rosy-cheeked  Peter  Brudshaw  was  energetically  ex 
plaining  machines  to  a  large  class,  who  listened,  chin  in 
hand,  in  motionless  attention.  His  prosperity  was  short : 
one  boy  had  conceived  a  spite  against  another,  and  to-day 
the  train  was  laid.  Suddenly  a  large  piece  of  pumpkin 
pie  struck  the  offending  party  full  in  the  face,  and  hung 
a  ludicrous  attachment  to  his  upturned  nose.  In  the 
derisive  shout  that  greeted  the  missile  the  blow  was  re 
turned,  and  the  fray  became  instantly  general.  So  sud 
den,  was  the  rise  of  the  scrimmage,  that  it  must  have  been 
planned  beforehand.  "  Don't  be  afeared,  Miss  Brad- 
shaw,"  said  her  boys,  gathering  about  the  Silver  Lake 
Goddess,  who  was  very  pale.  "  We'll  take  care  of  you." 

Hymn-books  and  picture-cards  were  flying  aboxit,  and 
some  one  threw  a  stool  with  no  bad  aim  at  the  gallant 
Superintendent,  who  had  taken  refuge  behind  a  black 
board,  and  trembled  visibly. 

"  Sit  down  !  "  cried  Peter  Bradshaw  to  the  pumpkin- 
pie  victim.  "  Sit  down,  I  say  !  " 

"  That  red-haired  cuss  shan't  stay  here ;  he's  the  devil 
himself." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  It's  because  your  sister's  head  is  so  red  that  you'd 
excuge  him." 

The  laugh  that  rose  at  this  sally  was  by  no  means  ill- 
humored,  but  the  participants  hurried  to  obey  the  cry, 
"  Out !  out  !  "  that  proved  the  signal  for  a  general  stam 
pede  toward  the  door.  Then  Jan  Vedder,  coolly  hold 
ing  his  post,  exclaimed  loudly  :  "  The  first  fellow  that 
comes  near,  I'll  pitch  down-stairs !  "  and  suiting  the 
action  to  the  word,  he  seized  a  six-foot  Irishman  who  led 
the  malcontents,  and  deliberately  flung  him  to  the  bottom. 

"  Well  done  !  "  "  Couldn't  have  beaten  that  my 
self!  "  were  commendatory  exclamations  from  the  crowd 
thus  boldly  faced,  and  a  little  undecided  pause  ensued. 
Hoots  below  warned  the  teachers  of  a  party  of  roughs 
assembled  at  the  gate ;  but  still  the  scholars  within,  bent 
more  on  fun  than  mischief,  hesitated  to  force  their  way 
out.  The  result  seemed  an  even  chance,  and  there  was 
a  moment's  silence  before  the  decision  came. 

"  The  devil !  they're  cowed  !  the  fools  !  "  cried  a 
stranger  in  Mary  McCross'  class,  who  had  been  urging 
on  the  tumult  with  missile,  voice  and  stamp.  lt  Let's  go, 
Christie  Malone." 

Mollie  recognized  the  danger.  A  word  would  rally 
the  party  and  break  up  the  school.  "  No,  you'll  stay 
here,"  said  she,  quietly. 

"  Who's  to  stop  us  ?  "  retorted  he,  all  braggadocio. 
"  I  don't  see  the  man." 

But  Mollie  was  not  quiet  within,  for  Francis  Hay- 
thome,  who  had  been  sitting  on  the  visitor's  bench,  the 
picture  of  indolent,  high-bred  amusement,  now  approached 
her,  and  offered  his  assistance. 

The  angry  blood  surged  to  her  cheeks,  as  she  exclaimed, 
in  a  haughty  tone,  very  natural,  and  yet  uncommon,  to 
Mollie,  « No,  sir.  If  I  can't  take  care  of  myself,  I've 
no  business  here." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  113 

(<  Bully  for  you,"  shrieked  Amos,  approvingly.  And 
when  she  turned  toward  the  angry  agitator,  with  an  en 
tirely  different  air  from  that  used  to  her  sybarite  protec 
tor,  and  said,  in  an  even,  sunny  tone,  "  Will  you  please 
take  your  seat ;  "  bending  on  him  a  glance  that  implied, 
"  Don't  you  see  what  impertinence  you  expose  me  to  ?  " 
he  dropped  meekly  to  his  place  without  a  word. 

It  was  nature,  not  generalship,  that  won  her  the  day, 
and  her  victory  was  the  settlement  of  the  whole  disturb 
ance.  Even  the  victim  of  Jan  Vedder's  prowess  picked 
himself  up,  and,  holding  out  a  hand  fit  for  a  blacksmith, 
exclaiming,  "  I  admire  to  know  you  !  that  was  a  hunki 
shove !  I'll  be  quiet  if  you  leave  me  in,"  showed  no 
trace  of  malice. 

Francis  Haythorne,  in  fact,  was  the  only  one  wounded. 
He  had  not  only  proved  of  no  use,  but  he'd  been  told  so. 
Nothing  less  than  Mollie's  perfect  unconsciousness  of  hav 
ing  given  ground  for  offence  could  have  saved  a  rupture  of 
their  friendship.  As  it  was,  he  had  to  pocket  the  affront, 
and,  thoroughly  piqued,  resolved  to  put  his  hand  to  the 
plough,  and  looked  to  her  for  approval.  None,  however, 
came.  Mollie  was  too  deeply  immersed  in  her  own  work 
to  bestow  any  interest  on  the  matter. 

Peace,  on  the  contrary,  wanted  the  amusement  of  walk 
ing  home  with  him,  and  was  liberal  in  her  praise,  and  let 
him  carry  her  sun-shade  as  a  reward.  But  even  Peace 
had  her  root  of  bitterness.  "  Mollie,"  said  she,  stopping 
suddenly,  and  speaking  with  an  intensity  of  emotion 
nearly  amounting  to  fierceness,  "  I  hate  that  school ! 
I've  five  little  girls  in  my  class,  and  every  one  of  their 
fathers  gets  drunk  !  " 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Mollie,  who  was  very  fond  of  Peace 
Pelican,  and  interested  in  all  her  thoughts. 

"  My  father  sells  whiskey." 


114  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

"  '  How  many  strawberries  grow  in  the  sea?  ' 
I  answered  him  as  I  thought  good — 
'  As  many  red  herrings  as  grow  in  the  wood.' " 

WEEK  or  two  after  this,  Peace  Pelican,  who  was 
visiting  in  Millville  for  the  autumn,  found  her 
way  up  to  Mollie's  room.  I  don't  say  "  found 
her  way,"  because  she  was  a  stranger  there.  On  the  con 
trary,  her  calls  were  so  frequent,  that  Mrs.  McCross  was 
accustomed  to  tell  Mollie  they  might  as  well  board  her 
at  once.  Mrs.  McCross  had  all  the  dislike  of  a  careful 
parent  to  those  of  her  daughter's  friends  that  she  did  not 
select — Euphemia  Hitchcock  being  a  fair  sample  of  her 
choice.  She  said  she  wanted  every  bit  of  Mollie's  heart 
herself.  Accordingly,  Peace  was  scarcely  seated  when 
she  called  from  the  foot  of  the  stairs  : 

"  Mary  !  Mary  !  it's  time  for  our  morning  season  of 
prayer.  Perhaps  your  friend  will  come  down,  too  ;  any 
way,  she  can't  expect  you  to  give  up  your  religious  duties." 

Mollie  cast  an  ashamed  and  anxious  glance  at  Peace, 
whose  black  brows  bore  an  ominous  contraction. 

"  Go  down,  don't  wait,"  quoth  that  lady,  maliciously. 
"  Tell  your  mother  I've  done  my  stint  this  morning." 

Mollie  went  patiently  to  the  door,  and  then  stood  still 
with  her  hand  on  the  knob. 

"  What  are  you  stopping  there  for  ?     Don't  you  know 

"  '  Satan  trembles  when  he  sees 

The  weakest  saint  upon  his  knees  ?  ' 

He'll  have  an  ague  fit  this  morning.  I  won't  join  you 
out  of  sheer  pity.  I  dislike  making  my  friends  uncom 
fortable,  and  two  is  enough  to  set  at  him  !  Go  !  I  want  to 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  H5 

read  Gil  Bias."  She  settled  herself  deep  into  the  easy- 
chair,  and  elevated  her  magnificently  arched  foot  to  the 
dignity  of  a  worked  ottoman.  It  was  a  lovely  stool,  a 
slender,  womanly  hand,  holding  by  their  stems  three 
golden  apples  and  a  leaf  or  two  adhering.  But,  though 
Miss  Pelican's  eyes  were  bent  on  the  booted  member  that 
tapped  an  angry  accompaniment  to  her  thoughts,  she  saw 
neither  it  nor  its  dainty  rest.  Presently  her  face  cleai-ed 
and  she  smiled.  Peace  had  a  wonderful  smile  :  not  sweet, 
nor  gentle,  nor  tender ;  but  affluent,  and  brilliant  as  ver 
milion.  I  suppose  it  was  an  index  of  repentance,  for  when 
Mollie  came  softly  in  a  few  minutes  later,  she  exclaimed : 

"  If  you  don't  forgive  me  I'll  pay  you  the  half  peanut 
I  owe  you,  and  we'll  dissolve  partnership." 

"  Then  I'm  afraid  I  must,"  said  Mollie  dryly,  and  she 
too  smiled,  a  womanly,  gentle  gleam,  that  gave  an  honest 
radiance  to  her  face.  Mollie's  laugh  was  the  most  re 
liable  thing  about  her.  It  only  answered  to  pleasant  or  ten 
der  emotion.  She  could  not  summon  it  at  her  will  at  all. 

"  Goody  girl  !  Grin'  for  a  huckleberry  ?  "  dancing 
something  white  before  her. 

"  A  letter  ?  "  Mollie  was  not  matter  of  fact  now.  She 
fairly  trembled  with  delight.  Peace  eyed  her  cynically, 
and  thought  up  cutting  remarks.  Peace  was  altogether 
fancy-free,  and  prided  herself  on  a  brain  fever  and  two 
marriages  of  desperation,  which  her  heartless  charms  had 
brought  about.  "  I  should  think  you  were  reading  num 
ber  one,  instead  of  number  twenty,"  said  she,  when  the 
eager,  happy  face  above  the  paper  had  worn  her  patience 
threadbare.  "  I  believe  Louis  sonneted  to  you  every 
other  night  while  I  was  in  Top  Town.  I  made  a  point  of 
looking  over  his  shoulder  on  purpose  to  see  him  blush." 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  said  Mollie,  uneasily  ;  "  this  is 
the  first  time  he  has  written ;  in  fact,  my  only  love  let- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

ter."  She  folded  the  note  as  she  spoke,  and  carefully 
laid  it  away  among  her  ribbons. 

"Well,  if  '  my  precious  Mollie '  applies  to  any  one  else, 
perhaps  they  were  destined  otherwise.  I  didn't  read  far 

enough  to  see 

Love-sick 
Pickwick,' 

at  the  bottom.  They  were  probably  penned  for  effect, 
as  mamma's  morning's  scribble  declares  that  he  is  punctu 
ality,  helpfulness,  good  temper,  and  all  the  virtues  done 
up  in  a  bundle." 

Mrs.  McCross,  habited  in  a  large  straw  flat,  cut  in  on 
this  pleasant  theme  with  the  announcement  that  Cyrn- 
balinus  Brown  and  Francis  Haythorne  were  both  com 
ing  to  tea,  and  she  wished  to  persuade  Miss  Pelican  to 
remain  also.  She  was  not  sorry  for  her  late  rudeness  ; 
but  convenience  was  more  important  than  consistency. 
She  therefore  cooed  the  invitation  to  her  "  dear  child," 
and  then,  embracing  Mollie  in  a  gush  of  motherly  ten 
derness,  exclaimed  :  "  I  feel  that  the  Lord  has  given  me 
the  leading  of  His  Spirit  in  pointing  out  Adolphy  Brown 
to  be  the  husband  for  you.  He  is  a  man  that  will  be  no 
hindrance  to  your  Christian  course,  and  I  desire  you  to 
spai'kle  up  to  him  and  get  the  most  out  of  your  oppor 
tunity." 

Peace,  who  really  wished  to  make  amends  to  Mollie, 
and,  moreover,  had  not  forgotten  her  resolve  to  expound 
the  gander  theory  to  the  delinquent  physician,  assented 
blandly  to  Mrs.  McCross's  plan,  and  instituted  a  mental 
comparison  of  her  hostess,  in  her  present  accoutrement, 
to  a  pale  toadstool,  which  was  quite  apt  enough  to  con 
sole  her  for  the  enforced  amiability. 

"  Come  and  kiss  me,  sweet  creature,"  said  Mollie, 
turning  round  from  the  mirror  and  a  dish  of  magnesia 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  H7 

and  water.  (She  had  been  applying  it  to  her  face  to 
remove  freckles,  in  obedience  to  her  mother's  parting 
command.) 

"  No,  thank  you ;  I  don't  touch  whited  sepulchres," 
retorted  her  friend. 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Mollie,  laughing  and  plunging  her  dainty 
head  in  the  wash-bowl,  emerging  thence  fresh  as  a  flower. 
She  had  abundant  strength  and  will  in  those  days,  and 
small  maternal  shafts  couldn't  find  a  flaw  in  her  armor. 
Besides,  there  was  her  talisman, — her  first  and  only  love- 
letter.  Ah  !  none  but  God,  the  divine  love,  can  tell  the 
passing  sweetness  of  that  shyly  worded,  half-hinted,  half- 
implied,  testimony  of  honest  affection,  to  the  woman 
that  cherishes  its  source  as  her  best  good. 

"  Let's  go  to  sewing  society,  as  a  pi-eparatory  work  of 
grace,"  said  Peace,  finishing  aloud  an  internal  reverie 
about  the  impending  tea-party.  "  I  feel  dreadfully  snippy. 
If  I  expend  the  impulse  on  pants  and  shirts,  the  nearest 
circle  of  my  friends  may  be  the  gainers."  Whereupon 
she  shook  her  skirts  vivaciously,  and  glanced  in  the 
mirror*  Peace  couldn't  help  testing  the  propriety  of  an 
emotion  by  its  effect  on  her  face,  any  more  than  she 
could  help  breathing.  But  she  never  remembered  to 
assume  the  right  expression  away  from  her  Urirn  and 
Thummim,  so  it  was  little  consequence. 

It  had  grown  well  into  November,  and  the  day  was 
chilly  and  sombre.  Under  foot  lay  damp  heaps  of 
leafage,  brown  and  shrivelled,  and  the  overhanging  clouds 
closed  near  and  gray  upon  the  look-out.  The  shivering 
passers-by  showed  cold  pinched,  and  were  mottled  blue 
and  yellow.  But  Peace  loved  the  faces  of  her  kind  as 
yielding  a  delightful  excitement,  and  viewed  humanity 
generally  as  affording  arena  for  practice  preparatory  to 
dazzling  a  more  limited  selection  of  bipeds.  She,  there- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

fore  grew  gradually  into  geniality  and  brilliance  as  the 
walk  proceeded,  and  entered  the  sewing  society  gathered 
for  victory.  She  beamed  with  majesty  on  her  friends, 
struck  envy  to  the  hearts  of  her  enemies,  and,  demand 
ing  shears  and  cloth,  began  blocking  out  work  in  graceful 
dignity  of  attitude,  and  accurate  performance  of  her 
task;  for  she  was  "capable,"  as  well  as  elegant,  and 
prided  herself  thereon. 

Mary  McCross  was  provided  instantly  with  work — 
something  ill-made  and  thrown  aside  by  the  unskilful 
seamstress, — and  settled  unnoticed  into  a  corner.  Her 
mother's  training  had  not  permitted  her  many  friends; 
the  little  handful  of  mission  people,  who  had,  like  Peace, 
unearthed  her  at  Patience  of  Hope,  being  the  extent. 
Outwardly  calm,  she  was  much  given  to  inward  trem 
bling  in  "  society,"  and  nobody  remembered  to  look 
her  up. 

Miss  Petingil  generalized  conversation  on  their  en 
trance,  by  asking  if  they  knew  of  the  tableau  Mrs. 
Deacon  Williams  proposed  adding  to  the  Christmas 
entertainment ; — Mrs.  Williams — Mary  Ann's  mother  ; 
you  remember  her  ? — Mrs.  Ramble's  half-sister.  Shortly 
subsequent  to  this  her  husband  died,  and  left  property 
to  Sonsie  Eagan. 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  spoke  up  Susie  Jenkens,  "  Mary  Ann 
is  to  stand  for  Flora,  crowning  Payson  as  little  Samuel. 
Her  mother  called  on  Mrs.  Bradshaw,  the  other  day, 
when  I  was  there,  to  ask  for  the  flowers.  Mr.  Mckson 
proposes  to  appear  as  Mercury  or  Delilah,  I  forget 
which,  in  the  background." 

"  Pooh  !  "  said  Miss  Petingil ;  "  I've  got  a  wreath  of 
orange-blossoms  I  might  ha'  let  her  had — real  French  ; 
I  wore  'em  at  Semanthy's  wedding.  They'd  ha'  done 
just  as  well." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  119 

The  girls  giggled,  for  Seinanthy  had  married  the  mis 
sionary  so  long  before,  that  her  sister  uniformly  refused 
to  tell  the  date. 

Then  Zoe  Walsinghaiu  asked  if  they  had  given  up 
having  the  Proddy  twins  stand  for  Raphael's  cherubs. 

"I  don't  like  cherubs,"  said  Peace;  "  I  wouldn't  be  '  a 
little  cherub  here  below,'  for  anything." 

Miss  Petingil  craned  up  and  sniffed,  disgusted  at  the 
speaker's  youth  and  beauty.  Peace  had  an  eminently 
antagonistic  atmosphere  about  her,  for  all  her  charms 
and  bewitching  little  ways.  "  Wings  on  babies  must  be 
dreadful ! "  put  in  Mary  McCross,  coming  to  Peace's 
rescue.  "You  couldn't  hug  them,  or  squeeze  them,  or 
spank  them,  because  their  feathers  would  always  be  in 
the  way.  Why,  one  wouldn't  be  able  to  enjoy  them  a 
bit  1  " 

"  But  they're  not  children;  they're  cherubs,"  objected 
Susie,  who  was  inclined  to  keep  to  the  letter. 

"  They  must  be  somebody's  children,"  insisted  Peace, 
perverse  as  usual.  "  Don't  tell  me  God  is  hard-hearted 
enough  to  make  them,  and  stunt  their  growth  too,  if  He 
didn't  provide  some  compensation ;  nothing  short  of 
having  a  mother  could  induce  me  to  be  a  baby  !  I  be 
lieve  all  the  infants  that  die  and  go  to  heaven  are 
cherubs." 

"  I  hope  so,"  said  a  pale  woman,  softly.  "  I  don't  ex 
actly  want  God  to  let  my  children  know  so  much  they'll 
despise  me." 

The  girls  looked  down  in  silence.  She  had  that 
winter  buried  her  last  babe — a  bright-haired,  bright-eyed 
boy.  That  was  why  she  worked  so  patiently  in  the 
mission  school. 

"Niver  fash  yoursel'  about  that,"  spoke  up  Sonsie 
Eagan.  "I've  heard  my  mother  say  that  sometimes  her 


120  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

dead  little  ones  came  back  and  slept  in  her  arms,  warm 
and  loving.  And  often  o'  summer  nights  she  felt  their 
sweet  breath  on  her  cheek,  as  she  sat  lookin'  toward  the 
stars  and  thinkin'  of  'em.  Perhaps  they're  seein'  ye 
now." 

It  was  pitiful  to  watch  the  lady  instinctively  smooth 
her  collar,  and  dress  her  wan  lips  with  the  "  mother 
smile." 

"  Peace,"  said  Mollie,  withdrawing  from  the  mourner 
her  eyes  violet,  and  with  a  hungry  craving  in  their 
depths,  "  I'm  not  sure  but  heaven  is  a  sorry  exchange 
for  that  woman's  arms."  Then,  after  a  stab  from  con 
science,  she  added,  "  But  after  all,  God  is  the  great  type 
of  motherhood ;  we  can  always  find  it  in  Him,  in  the 
flesh  or  not." 

Meanwhile  old  Mr.  Pelican,  who  was  in  town  for  the 
night,  having  first  perused  the  modest  columns  of  the 
"  Millville  Universe,"  became  so  much  interested  in  the 
election,  that  he  resolved  to  purchase  the  New  York 
"  "World  "  for  further  information.  He  put  on  his  coat, 
buttoned  it  tight  to  his  chin,  fastened  his  gloves,  elevated 
his  stove-pipe  to  its  proper  position,  and  then  went  down 
stairs  in  his  stockings,  forgetful  of  the  glaring  deficiency 
of  his  toilet.  A  decided  numbness  of  toe  made  him 
aware  of  the  lack,  and,  still  in  oblivion  temporibus 
mundi,  he  hastened  to  draw  on  his  boots  over  his  pants, 
and  sail)''  forth  again.  As  Charley  had  spent  some  time 
that  morning  in  ornamenting  the  fronts  with  two  large 
white  paper  death's  heads,  he  presented  a  startling  ap 
pearance.  Peace  and  Mollie  met  him  strutting  along  in 
all  imaginable  dignity,  his  portly  person  held  carefully 
erect,  and  his  bedizened  legs  advancing  with  majestic 
stride.  His  daughter  struggled  between  vexation  and 
mirth,  but  felt  the  former  predominate,  as  she  caught 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  121 

sight  of  Charley  skulking  the  other  side  the  street  to 
enjoy  the  scene.  Miss  Pelican  held  herself  specially  in 
charge  of  her  brother's  ideal  of  propriety,  and  flew  at 
him,  and  set  him  down  with  judicious  severity.  "  How 
perfectly  disgusting !  "  exclaimed  she,  with  superb  scorn, 
as  she  met  him  on  the  crosswalk  ;  "  the  trick  is  boorish." 

Thereupon  Mr.  Pelican  forgot  his  six  feet  of  dignity, 
to  the  extent  of  thrusting  his  tongue  into  his  cheek,  and 
winking  at  her  with  his  left  eye,  a  proceeding  far  from 
soothing  to  his  sister's  feelings,  to  judge  from  the  extreme 
hauteur  with  which  she  elevated  her  handsome  nose, 
and  sailed  away. 

But  Mrs.  McCross'  tea  drew  on  apace. 

Francis  Haythorne,  first  arrived,  was  immediately  ab 
sorbed  by  Peace's  inevitable  love  of  coquetry,  and 
carried  off  to  the  garden  to  pick  bouquets,  and  be  twitted 
with  laziness,  and  spitted  on  eyebeams,  till  he  was  too 
dizzy  with  her  spells  to  know  black  from  white.  This 
was  all  the  greater  fun,  because  Miss  Pelican  was  perfect 
ly  well  aware  that  Mollie  was  his  feminine  ideal,  and 
believed  his  worship  at  her  shrine  too  constant  to  be 
broken  up  by  radiant  smiles  and  dazzling  looks.  Her 
line  of  tactics  left  the  field  free  to  Cabby,  who  arrived  in 
lavender  tie,  and  tea-rose  button-hole  bouquet,  the  pink  of 
sartorial  art.  Mollie,  chafing  at  the  necessity  of  enduring 
his  pi-esence,  received  him  coldly.  But  he  was  intent  on 
business.  A  gentle  squeeze  of  her  passive  hand,  accom 
panied  by  a  killing  glance  from  his  small,  shallow  eyes, 
acquainted  her  with  the  fact  instantly.  But  this  young 
lady  had  a  way  of  congealing — or  to  all  appearance  addling 
— her  brains  till  she  looked  like  a  mantis  playing  'possum. 
She  immediately  took  refuge  in  this  state  of  mental  syn 
cope,  stared  vaguely,  and  murmured  something  unintelli 
gible  about  the  weather. 
6 


122  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Mr.  Brown  was  not  surprised  at  her  evident  flurry, 
hung  his  hat  on  the  rack  with  a  neat  and  appropriate 
flourish,  and  on  entering  the  parlor  took  up  the  guitar, 
and  struck  chords  with  a  sentimental  air. 

"  Do  sing,"  said  Mollie,  stolidly,  from  an  uncomfortable 
chair  in  the  corner. 

"  Oh !  I  can't,"  responded  he,  using  his  lovely  infantile 
drawl.  "  My  name  it  is  Josephus  Orange  Blossom — I 
can't  sing." 

"  So  sorry,"  remarked  Mollie,  without  changing  a 
feature. 

Mr.  Brown  was  not  embarrassed,  but,  as  she  began 
making  edging  with  no  further  attempt  at  conversation, 
he  lay  down  at  full  length  on  the  sofa,  and  piped  in 
affected  falsetto,  with  marked  emphasis: 

"  'Oh,  no,  dear  George  !  not  just  yet  awhile — 
Mother  says  I  mustn't — mother  says  I  mustn't — mother  says  I 
mustn't — , 

'  But  father  says  you  can.'  " 

Here  he  smiled  enchantingly,  and  played  chords  to  give 
Mollie  time  to  take  in  the  beauty  of  the  idea. 

"Oh!"  said  Mollie,  assuming  an  expression  vacant 
enough  to  be  imbecile  in  any  one  else.  "  What  a  relief  to 
find  that  one  woman  possessed  of  a  little  common  sense !  " 

Her  suitor  vouchsafed  her  a  gentle  and  patronizingly  in 
quiring  stare,  and  continued  to  extract  a  buzzing  effect 
from  his  instrument. 

Now  as  Mollie  was  inwardly  enraged  at  his  sacrilegious 
handling  of  Louis'  dear  music  pet,  she  revenged  herself 
by  despising  his  slender  little  legs,  so  sweetly  laid  out, 
crossed,  to  contemplation,  and  became  more  stiffly  erect, 
and  emotionless  in  face,  every  moment.  The  entrance  of 
Peace,  beautifully  decorated  with  vines  and  china  asters 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  123 

by  the  attendant  doctor,  suggested  a  diversion,  and  the  four 
sat  down  to  euchre.  The  glowing  faces  of  the  new-comers, 
fresh  from  the  keen  autumn  wind,  enlivened  our  discom 
fited  wooer,  and  he  secreted  a  full  set  of  face  cards  in 
his  vest  pocket,  with  view  to  aiding  good-fortune.  Mollie, 
who  cared  nothing  for  games  of  chance,  but  abhorred 
cheating,  and  always  played  her  best  as  matter  of  con 
science,  detected  her  partner's  little  plan,  and  writhed 
inwardly. 

The  game  was  stupid,  in  conseqi7ence  of  much  coquet 
ting  on  Peace's  side,  and  bad  play  on  Mr.  Brown's.  Mr. 
Haythorne — who  was  a  scientific  and  devoted  euchre 
man — frowned ;  and  Mary,  who  could  get  no  leads  an- 
swered,  and  was  assisted  repeatedly  on  left  bowers 
unguarded,  felt  insupportably  ennuied. 

"  What  a  spirited  game  you  venture !  "  said  Peace,  with 
a  mendaciously  approving  smile,  and  a  view  to  ameliorat 
ing  the  situation.  Then,  as  no  one  remembered  whose 
turn  it  was,  she  put  down  a  heart  on  Mr.  Haythorne's 
left  bower  of  next  suit,  and  was  not  detected  in  the 
mistake. 

"  I  ought  to,"  responded  he,  much  flattered.  "  I  was 
taught  my  system  by  a  blackleg." 

Mr.  Haythorne  felt  too  much  disgusted  not  to  be  obtuse 
to  the  malicious  twinkle  in  Miss  Pelican's  beautiful  eyes ; 
and  Mary,  who  had  a  habit  of  punching  a  hair-pin  in  and 
out  her  coiled  shining  braids,  when  in  a  brown  study, 
forgot  what  she  was  doing,  yielded  to  the  custom,  and 
finally  dropped  the  implement  on  the  carpet.  Cabby 
immediately  picked  it  up,  and  sticking  it  in  his  mus 
tache,  observed  the  effect  in  the  opposite  glass,  holding 
his  head  on  one  side,  and  assuming  several  varieties  of 
smile. 

"  Ah !  "  said  he,  ogling  himself  all  the  while,  "  Diamonds 


124  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

trump?  Allow  me,  joker.  This  picture  looks  exactly 
like  tlie  pulpit  last  Sunday,  with  the  two  ministers  on 
each  side  supporting  the  colored  brother." 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  can  do  that,"  cried  his  partner, 
suddenly  vitalized.  "  You've  played  once  before,  and  I 
hold  the  card  you've  put  down,  in  my  own  hand.  The 
trick  is  Mr.  Haythorne's.  That  euchres  us,  arid  gives 
them  the  rub."  Mollie  was  indignant  for  two  reasons. 
In  the  first  place,  she  was  beaten  by  his  slovenly  playing ; 
and  in  the  second,  considered  the  company  insulted  by  the 
attempted  fraud.  She  rose  directly,  but  Mr.  Brown  lifted 
his  artificially  prolonged  eyebrows,  and  remained  wrapped 
in  affectionate  study  of  the  effect  of  the  black  hair-pin 
on  his  lily-white  complexion.  "  Oh,  you  play  a  strict 
game  ?  "  said  he.  "  Quite  correct."  He  increased  his 
angle  of  neck-crook  as  he  spoke,  and  slightly  varied  the 
position  of  the  ornament,  with  another  smile  of  self-ap 
proval. 

Mrs.  McCross  now  entered,  followed  by  her  husband. 

"  Why  don't  he  get  a  kernel  of  corn,  and  call  the  hairs 
together  ?  "  said  Peace,  aside,  after  a  survey  of  the  suit 
or's  scraggy  blond  ornament. 

"  That  one  on  his  little  toe  he  e  acquired  from  wearing 
expensive  patent-leathers,'  perhaps,"  suggested  Mollie. 

The  "  entre-nous "  style  of  conversation  obtained 
through  the  room.  Mr.  Haythorne  was  monopolized  by 
Deacon  McCross,  who  was  bent  on  obtaining  useful  infor 
mation. 

"  You  say  you've  been  in  Africy  ?  "  said  the  old  gen 
tleman,  eagerly. 

His  guest  assented. 

"  When  Dr.  Bang,  the  missionary,  travelled  in  those 
parts,  he  said  he  discovered  some  people  without  much 
of  any  clothes  on,  an'  they  came  at  him,  an'  '  were  going 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  125 

to  eat  him  up.'  'Spose  you  didn't  see  nothiu'  of  that 
sort  ?  " 

Mollie,  who  loved  her  father  too  dearly  to  mind  his 
peculiarities,  listened  in  some  amusement  for  Mr.  Hay- 
thorne's  answer ;  but  Mrs.  McCross  exclaimed  immedi 
ately,  "  Elizur,  will  you  have  the  goodness  to  hold  your 
tongue  ?  "  which  broke  up  the  colloquy.  The  old  man 
said  he  guessed  he'd  go  out  in  the  garden,  and  scald  a 
few  ants  and  uncles,  and  wandered  mildly  off,  leaving 
his  wife  to  conduct  the  conversation. 

"  Did  you  attend  the  '  Read  and  Sew '  at  Mr.  Grow 
ing's  ? "  said  the  young  man,  snatching  the  first  topic 
likely  to  interest. 

"  No,"  replied  the  Deacon's  wife,  in  a  disparaging  tone ; 
"  in  my  opinion,  Mr.  Growing  and  his  idol  of  a  play- 
writer  are  alike.  I  consider  it  out  of  character  to  read 
such  things  at  a  church  society.  When  the  youth  of  the 
congregation  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  Baxter's 
*  Call,'  or  Doddridge's  '  Wives  and  Progress,'  would  be  so 
much  more  profitable." 

(Her  auditor  smiled  with  complaisance,  mistakenly 
supposing  it  to  be  a  joke.) 

"  The  author  and  reader  are  nothing  but  a  couple  of 
whining  sentimentalists,  to  my  mind."  This  was  winged 
for  her  daughter's  ear.  Mollie  loved  her  earnest  young 
pastor  for  the  help  he  gave  his  people,  and  was  often  at 
his  house. 

"  I  always  supposed  Shakespeare  a  great  writer,"  said 
Peace  abruptly,  forsaking  her  friend  to  egg  on  the  critic. 

"  Nonsense  !  "  answered  the  lady,  in  a  decided  tone. 
"  Why  haven't  people  discovered  it,  then  ?  He  might 
have  found  material  well  worth  study  in  Chesterfield, 
who  was  a  truly  great  thinker." 

"  Come  over  here,  Mr.  Haythorne,"  said  Peace,  from 


126  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

the  tete-a-tete  sofa,  where  she  sat  with  Mollie.  "  Mr. 
Brown  is  dying  to  have  Mrs.  McCross  show  him  the  Pere 
Hyacinth  geranium  in  the  library ;  he  wants  a  slip." 

"  '  There's  many  a  slip  'twixt  cup  and  lip,' "  said  Mol 
lie  ;  "she  won't  cut  it.  But  Peace  has  a  conundrum  for 
you." 

"  I  give  it  up,  &  priori,"  said  the  doctor,  sitting  down 
with  the  air  of  a  man  who  expects  to  be  amused  without 
any  trouble  or  energy  on  his  own  part. 

"  Pooh  !  "  retorted  Peace.  "  Guess  who  Mr.  Brown 
has  been  warning  us  against  as  dangerous  ?  " 

"  Himself,  perhaps,"  Mr.  Haythorne  suggested,  with 
the  contempt  a  tall  man  feels  for  a  little  one. 

"  No !  in  spite  of  the  blackleg  companion,  he  assures 
us  he  is  wild  no  longer,  by  which  he  proposes  to  increase 
our  respect  on  considering  the  possibility.  It's  you,  dear 
cherub !  He  says  you  are  a  tough  knot ;  you  belonged 
to  a  Kneipe  in  Germany,  and  sent  your  friends  to  knip- 
tions  in  consequence." 

It  is  impossible  to  convey  the  intensity  of  Miss  Peli 
can's  delight  at  this  bit  of  gossip,  and  Mr.  Haythorne 
was  as  tickled  as  a  correct  young  bachelor  conscious  of 
power  and  irreproachable  bringing-up  would  ordinarily 
be.  Mollie,  who  thought  it  unfair  to  join  in  the  laugh 
against  her  own  guest,  interrupted :  "  I  have  a  conun 
drum  too  ;  it's  my  turn.  We've  been  talking  about  L'Af- 
ricaine.  "Was  she  weak  or  strong  ?  " 

"  Do  you  think  I  am  going  to  take  sides?  "  replied  he, 
smiling,  and  caressing  his  curling  beard.  "  By  no  means. 
You  can  argue  the  case  and  I'll  decide." 

"'I'll  be  judge  and  I'll  be  jury,  said  cunning  old 
Fury,'  "  quoted  Peace.  "  Never  mind !  I  say  she  was 
weak,-and  a  fool  to  love  him."  The  dash  of  defiance  with 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  127 

which  she  delivered  her  opinion  was  equally  pretty  and 
piquante. 

"  Strong,"  asseverated  Mollie.  "  But  she  was  wrong 
to  die." 

"  Weak,"  persisted  Peace ;  "  weak  as  water.  '  Malgr6 
moi,  je  regrette  &  peine  aupres  de  toi  mon  doux  pays;  et 
mon  palais  au  souveraigne ;  et  rnes  dieux  dans  mon  cceur 
trahis.'  Isn't  that  fairly  contemptible  folly?  And  all 
for  the  most  callous-hearted,  egotistical  wretch  ever  put 
into  an  opera." 

The  self-constituted  umpire  writhed  under  her  some 
what  personal  glance.  "  I  pity  him,"  he  remarked 
sweetly.  "  Between  two  women  he  must  have  been  be 
side  his  wits." 

"  No  doubt  of  that,"  cried  Peace,  twisting  the  meaning. 

"  She  was  strong,"  said  Mollie.  "  She  knew  how  to 
suffer.  Love  is  capacity  for  bearing  sorrow  for  our 
friend.  Her  pain  was  nearly  infinite ;  therefore  she 
could  not  have  been  weak." 

"  I  think  so,"  agreed  Francis  Haythorne.  "  It  is 
true  I  can't  understand  such  love,  but  I  believe  every 
true  wife  feels  it." 

"  And  husband  too,"  put  in  Peace. 

He  was  silent. 

"  You  disagree  ?  "  Mollie  lifted  her  eyes  thoughtfully 
to  his  face. 

He  laughed  behind  his  beard,  with  the  quiet  self-reser 
vation  men  cultivate  in  conversing  with  women  and  their 
other  inferiors.  "  You  remember  Hood's  dictum,"  was 
his  suggestion,  after  tantalizing  them  with  silence. 

"  Go  on,"  quoth  Peace.  "  Let  him  say  his  little  verse, 
Mollie." 

He  bestowed  a  glance  of  oddly  mixed  annoyance  and 
admiration  on  the  unquenchable,  and  repeated : 


128  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

" '  Our  love  it  ne'er  was  reckoned, 

Yet  good  it  is,  and  true ; 
It's  half  the  world  to  me,  sweet, 
It's  all  the  world  to  you." 

Peace  grew  angry  under  the  cool  gaze  he  fixed  on  her. 
"  Is  that  your  idea  of  a  wife  ?  "  said  she,  hotly. 

"  Yes  !  I  want  a  woman  whose  heart  will  be  mine  all 
day  long  at  home,  while  I'm  away,  and  certainly  mine 
when  I  come  back  to  rest  in  her  constant  tenderness, 
tired  of  the  outside  world." 

"  In  fact,"  retorted  she,  "  Mr.  Haythorne's  model 
Griselda  is  a  t  she  ministered  unto  him.'  I'll  never  be 
that  for  any  man." 

Whereat  he  smiled  again,  exasperatingly. 

"  Peace,"  said  Mollie,  her  gravity  unmoved  from  the 
earnest  hold  she  had  of  the  question,  "you've  never 
been  in  love." 

"  Yes,  I  have,  scores  of  times, — with  ideals.  Do  you 
know,"  remarked  she,  with  engaging  candor,  "  I  always 
hate  a  man  I've  been  half  in  love  with  ?  I  took  quite  a 
fancy  to  you  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  you." 

Poor  Mr.  Brown's  wooing  sped  very  ill  that  afternoon. 
Mrs.  McCross  brought  him  back,  a  sprig  of  the  gallant 
reformer's  namesake  in  his  be-ringed  fingers,  and  gave  him 
a  seat  beside  Mollie,  with  too  ominous  an  expression  of 
face  to  be  ignored  by  her  daughter.  His  twaddle,  always 
annoying  to  a  girl  whose  intensity  was  carried  into  every 
detail  of  life,  became  absolutely  painful  under  the  cir 
cumstances.  Cabby,  however,  interpreted  her  silence  as 
bashful  modesty,  and  was  fired  with  ardor  in  pursuit  of 
the  gilded  prize.  But  what  Mollie's  refusal  to  be  com 
plaisant  could  not  do  for  her,  accident  effectually  accom 
plished. 

Deacon  McCross  had  stolen  in,  and  now  sat  beside 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  129 

Mollie's  corner  of  the  tete-a-tete,  with  his  hand  content 
edly  clasping  his  daughter's.  He  was  fond  of  resting 
thus,  and  sunning  himself  in  the  pleasure  she  was  able  to 
give  her  friends.  He  was  at  his  proudest  then. 

Mr.  Brown,  who  was  not  equal  to  the  discussion  of 
L'Africaine,  felt  it  necessary  to  lend  a  hand.  His  forte 
was  something  he  denominated  a  "  widdle,"  and  inven 
tion  came  to  his  aid. 

He  winked  at  Mollie,  and  next  winked  at  her  father 
to  point  the  joke,  then  propounded  it  :  "  Why  is  an  old 
man's  head  like  the  sky  ?  Because  there  is  a  little  bear 
there." 

Deacon  McCross,  who  was  sensitive  about  his  age, 
grew  red.  He  satisfied  himself  that  Miranda  was  absent, 
and  remarked  severely :  "  Young  sir,  remember  Elijah, 
and  say  no  more  about  bears.  I  am  no  longer  youthful, 
but  I  respected  years  when  I  was." 

"  I  think  it  is  a  blessing  to  grow  old,"  cried  Mollie ; 
"  that  is,  I  think  wrinkles  are  a  blessing." 

Peace  elevated  her  eyebrows,  and  Mr.  Haythorne  ex 
claimed,  "  How  so  ?  "  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  room. 

"Because,"  said  she,  slowly,  as  if  spelling  out  the 
thought,  (t  they  are  remembrances  of  the  covenant,  '  I 
will  be  with  thee  even  to  gray  hairs.'  They  seem  to  me  a 
sort  of  hieroglyphics  that  contain  the  story  of  a  man's  life." 

"  That's  no  blessing,"  said  Mr.  McCross,  imeasily. 

"  I  think  it  is,"  answered  Mollie.  "  Isn't  such  a 
record  Heaven's  memorandum  of  what  the  new  man  shall 
be  ?  Every  touch  by  which  the  sculptor  corrugates  the 
marble  is  a  preparation  for  the  statue,  every  peg  driven 
in  the  cast,  the  measure  of  chiselled  perfection.  Old  age 
is  the  witness  God  gives  of  oxir  future.  Bless  God  for 
wrinkles,  say  I,  and  let  us  rise  up,  every  one,  before  the 
hoary  head." 

6* 


130  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Her  auditors  gazed  at  her  in  astonishment,  and  drew  a 
sigh  of  relief  when  she  paused ;  as  one  sighs  after  the 
fourth  scene  of  the  fifth  act  of  a  tragedy- — something  in 
joy  at  what  is  passed — something  in  fear  of  what  is  yet 
to  come. 

Molly  hadn't  meant  to  crush  Cabby  with  this  burst  of 
eloquence.  She  was  still  awake  with  the  pleasure  of  the 
late  discussion,  and  brought  her  graceful  thought  to  defend 
her  father's  position  from  mere  impulse.  But  she  had 
proved  herself  original  and  earnest ;  and  the  little  dandy 
was  afraid  of  both  qualities.  He  shuddered  to  see  her 
bright  eager  eye,  and  lips  parted  with  her  quickened 
breathing.  "  No,  she  should  never  be  Mrs.  Brown ; 
never  !  "  He  snatched  the  hair-pin  from  the  blond  fringe, 
and  tossed  it  and  Mollie's  opportunity  in  the  fire.  And 
she  never  was. 

It  is  as  odd  as  true,  that  for  wife  or  love,  men  are 
more  afraid  of  a  woman  of  talent  and  culture  than  of  a 
shrew,  a  fool,  or  a  flirt. 

Both  my  heroines  were  childish  enough  to  keep  extract 
books.     1  subjoin  the  selections  they  made  that  night. 
Peace  wrote : — 

"  No  drede  hem  not,  do  hem  no  reverence  ; 
For  though  thin  husband  armed  be  in  mail, 
The  arowes  of  thy  crabbed  eloquence 
Shall  perce  his  brest  and  eke  his  aventaille. 

Be  ay  of  chere  as  light  as  lef  e  on  linde, 

And  let  him  care  and  wepe  and  wringe  and  waille. " 

Mollie  wrote : — 

Though  weary,  love  is  not  tired  ;  though  pressed,  it  is 
not  straitened. 

Love  is  active,  sincere,  affectionate,  pleasant  and  arnia- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  131 

ble,  courageous,  patient,  faithful,  prudent,  long-suffering, 
manly,  and  never  seeketh  itself. 

For  in  whatever  instance  a  person  seeketh  himself, 
there  he  falleth  from  love. 

Without  sorrow,  none  liveth  in  love. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

High  diddle  diddle,  the  cat  got  the  fiddle, 
The  cow  jumped  over  the  moon  ; 
The  little  dog  laughed  to  see  the  sport, 
And  the  plate  ran  away  with  the  spoon." 

i]OW  we  deem  that  a  true  history  should  above  all 
things  give  the  "  Every-day  days,"  for  these  are 
both  prophecy  and  comment  on  the  future  acts. 
This  then  is  an  "  Every-day  day." 

It  was  several  months  aftef  the  events  last  recorded, 
that  Mr.  Haythorne  walked  into  Fir  Covert  just  in  time 
for  dinner.  Since  Cabby's  rebuff,  Mrs.  McCross  had  fixed 
upon  him  as  the  desirable  suitor,  and  spared  no  pains  to 
domesticate  him.  Mollie  was  not  charged  with  great 
burden  of  his  entertainment  when  Peace  was  at  hand, 
and  neither  helped  nor  hindered  her  mother's  manoeuvres, 
finding  her  great  excitement  in  Patience  of  Hope,  to  which 
she  regarded  him  as  a  useful  adjunct.  She  knew  now 
that  her  unmarried  life  was  to  be  the  scene  of  such  mines 
and  countermines,  and  said  to  herself,  that,  as  his  im 
penetrable  egotism  would  doubtless  keep  him  heart-whole, 
he  was  a  nice  lay  figure,  in  room  of  a  more  vitalized 
element  of  the  studio  ;  in  short,  harmless.  No  man, 
ascetic  or  ease-loving,  is  averse  to  having  a  well-appointed 


132  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

house  open  to  him  at  all  times,  and,  when  a  fresh,  sweet 
maiden  shelters  there,  the  charm  is  complete.  In  this 
case  there  were  two  maidens,  for  Peace  continued  her  stay 
at  the  Jenkens',  and,  to  Mrs.  McCross'  manifest  disgust, 
spent  half-  her  time  with  Mollie. 

Francis  Haythorne  was  a  citoyen  du  monde.  He  had 
travelled  much  and  at  leisure,  been  at  Heidelburg  Uni 
versity,  studied  music  in  Leipsic  and  composition  at 
Vienna,  drank  beer  in  Bavaria,  and  tried  opium  at 
Constantinople — this  last  unsuccessfully. 

He  had  done  a  little  sledging  in  Russia,  but,  finding  it 
uncomfortable,  spent  the  allotted  time  at  Rome.  He 
never  cared  to  climb  the  Alps,  but  vastly  enjoyed  the  Amer 
ican-like  society  at  Interlachen.  With  little  exertion,  and 
in  the  most  gentlemanly  way  possible,  he  had  contrived 
to  become  acquainted  with  all  kinds  of  men  without 
attaching  himself  to  any,  and  at  twenty-eight  stood  alone 
in  the  world,  with,  as  he  flattered  himself,  neither  duties 
nor  obligations. 

To  such  a  man  it  was  a  rare  pleasure  to  discover  in  the 
friends  two  people  at  once  cultured  and  earnest.  He 
had  drifted  into  Millville,  and  met  them  both  at  a  sew 
ing  society,  where  his  art  was  called  in  aid  at  a  fainting 
fit  Belle  Brandon  got  up  to  show  the  perfection  of  her 
features  in  repose.  The  acquaintance  had  ripened  fast. 
Molly,  absorbed  as  to  love  in  Louis,  saw  all  mankind  in 
a  halo  in  those  days ;  and,  debarred  by  her  parents'  pe 
culiarities  from  association  with  friends  of  her  own  age, 
except  under  protest,  found  his  refinement,  delicate  breed 
ing,  and  high  scholarship  a  source  of  constant  enjoyment ; 
while  his  mind,  no  better  than  hers,  but  trained  in  argu 
ment  and  stored  with  German  thought,  proved  a  form  of 
high  mental  stimulus.  She  learned  how  to  arrange  the 
factors  of  a  conclusion,  and  analyze  a  formula  of  reasoning, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  133 

with  precision  new  and  delightful.  He  drew  her  out  for 
the  pleasure  of  watching  her  rapidly  evolved  and  unhack 
neyed  thought ;  and  she  relished  his  visits  because  he 
helped  her  to  understand  herself. 

Thus  agi'eeably  situated,  with  Peace  to  point  the  argu 
ments  and  be  snippy  in  the  pauses,  he  carelessly  permitted 
Mrs.  McCross'  transparent  management ;  taught  in  the 
Sunday-school  (pure  morality,  nothing  more,  as  he  care 
fully  explained) ;  read  history  with  perseverance ;  cut  his 
bell-rope  so  patients  shouldn't  call  him  up  at  night ;  in 
short,  wasted  his  time  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all 
parties. 

This  morning  the  dilettante  found  Fir  Covert  parlor 
empty.  Voices  up-stairs,  in  the  thirds  and  semi-tones  of 
animated  but  pleasant  discussion,  informed  him  of  the 
whereabouts  of  the  mates,  and  a  talkative  parrot,  hung 
above  the  plants  in  the  window,  called  out  "  Good-morn 
ing."  "  Pretty  cold,"  said  she,  conversationally.  Then, 
holding  up  a  claw,  "  Poppy  want  to  come."  Concluding 
Mr.  Haythorue  resolved  to  negative  the  proposition, 
she  asked  why  the  men  didn't  propose,  with  extreme 
interest ;  said  something  about  dear,  dear  somebody 
several  times,  and  kissed  vociferously.  The  visitor  still 
continuing  self-absorbed,  she  emptied  her  seed  cup  on  his 
head  out  of  revenge,  and  remarked  that  her  father  was  a 
drunkard  and  her  mother  dead,  in  hilarious  accents. 

Mr.  Haytliorne  was  not  the  man  to  forgive  in  a  parrot 
things  objectionable  in  humanity  ;  he  annihilated  her  with 
a  glare,  which  led  her  to  make  a  dab  at  him  so  energetic 
that  she  got  her  head  out  of  the  cage,  and  had  hard  work 
to  pull  it  in  again,  and  so  lost  her  temper  as  to  make  pie 
of  her  furniture  the  minute  she  succeeded. 

But  the  object  of  her  ire  had  taken  refuge  by  the  piano. 
There  lay  "  Songs  without  Words,"  a  few  bits  of  Schu- 


134  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

maim,  a  fair  sprinkling  of  Beethoven,  and  on  top  a  copy  of 
Overture  to  the  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  and  the  Der 
Freyschiitz.  He  whistled  the  latter  smilingly  to  himself, 
till  the  young  ladies  entered. 

"  Who  plays  this  ?  "  asked  he,  keeping  fast  hold  of  his 
treasure  while  he  made  his  greetings,  and  losing  no  time 
in  spreading  it  carefully  on  the  rack,  his  face  expanded 
in  anticipation  of  a  treat. 

"  Unless  you  can  render  it,  no  one,"  said  Mollie. 
"  That  is  Mr.  Allwood's  music.  A  very  simple  air,  with 
out  runs  or  trills,  is  the  utmost  extent  of  my  ability." 

"  And  yours  also,  Miss  Pelican  ? "  looking  disap 
pointed. 

"  1  have  a  reasonably  good  ear  for  melody  ;  let  us  have 
the  tongs  and  the  bones.  I  can  bring  in  Bully  Bottom's 
bray,"  retorted  that  damsel.  "  But  as  Sybarites  like  you 
detest  such  minstrelsy,  you'd  better  put  the  piece  away, 
unless  you  choose  to  read  the  verses  you've  hidden  in  the 
leaves."  She  picked  up  a  folded  bit  of  paper  as  she  spoke. 

Vexed  at  the  imputation  of  scribbling,  he  caught  it 
from  the  little  hand  mischievously  dancing  it  before  him, 
and  crimsoned  with  annoyance  to  find  its  contents  really 
in  rhyme. 

"  Go  on,  Mr.  Sybby  dear,"  said  his  tormentor.  "  You 
ought  to  have  written  it  on  a  doubled  rose-leaf.  Re 
member  next  time." 

"The  verses  are  not  mine,  as  you  can  see  by  the  Greek 
initials  in  monogram  at  the  bottom.  I  could  neither 
draw  the  one  nor  write  the  other.  You  must  ask  Miss 
Mottle's  permission  to  have  them  read." 

"  You  are  welcome  to  the  perusal,"  said  Mollie  quietly. 
"  Mr.  Allwood  scribbled  them  one  Sunday,  to  console  me 
because  my  boys  all  went  off  to  play,  and  I  had  no 
class." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  135 

Now  if  a  man  hates  anything,  it  is  to  render  another 
man's  poetry  ;  but  Peace  would  insist,  her  maliciously 
beautiful  smile  daring  the  poor  victim  to  his  task.  Being 
both  a  fine  elocutionist  and  a  gentleman,  he  accordingly 
gave  the  simple  lines  with  grace  and  taste,  which  momen 
tarily  disarmed  the  gad-fly,  and  made  Mollie's  heart  swell 
with  memories  of  her  absent  lover. 

"  On  the  shelf  in  an  oaken  cupboard  high, 

Lie  six  little  balls  of  brown, 
And  every  day  a  maid  trips  by, 
And  watches  very  anxiously 

Those  dainty  nests  of  silken  down 

"  Six  pairs  of  wings  flit  to  and  fro 

In  the  depths  of  that  cupboard  old — 
Six  pairs  of  wings  that  quickly  grow; 
And  their  giddy  owners  long  to  go 
Out  into  the  wide,  wide  world. 

"  The  door  is  open.     Why  should  they  stay  ? 

No  eyes  their  doings  view. 
Off  they  dart  in  merry  play — 
Off  to  the  fields  and  the  flowerets  gay. 
And  wouldn't  you  do  so  too  ? 

"  As  for  the  maid  they  left  alone, 

She  mourned  them  long,  and  she  wept  them  sore. 
But  the  faithless  butterflies  didn't  return  ; 
They  flew  too  gay  o'er  the  grass  and  fern ; 

And  she  ought  to  have  shut  the  door." 

"There!"  said  Peace  teasingly.  "Don't  you  wish 
yoti  could  write  poetry  like  that  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Francis  Haythorne,  "  I  don't  think,  and  I 
know  Miss  Mollie  agrees  with  me,  that  this  is  poetry." 

Mrs.  McCross  hud  once  heard  him  say  lie  loved  to  see 


136  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

woman  about  her  feminine  occupations,  and  henceforth 
made  Mollie  darn  the  whole  family  hosiery  in  his  pres 
ence.  The  seamstress  looked  up  now  from  an  immense 
web  she  was  stretching  across  a  heel  to  answer :  "  You 
are  right ;  but  I  think  also  that  the  language  scarcely 
counts  ten  true  poets.  The  rest  are  only  poetasters." 

"  What  becomes  of  the  long  row  of  worthies  on  your 
shelf?  "  asked  Peace  ;  "  Holland,  Owen  Meredith,  Long 
fellow,  Campbell,  and  the  rest  ?  " 

"  I  don't  mean  that  there  are  not  many  charming 
writers,  and  that  the  world  isn't  better  for  possessing 
them.  Their  work  is  sweet,  tender,  and  often  inspiring. 
But  I  only  call  that  poetry,  which  would  have  found  ex 
pression  from  its  own  imperious  nature,  if  nothing  poeti 
cal  had  ever  been  written ;  which  moulds  its  own  form, 
and  is  instinct  with  thought,  power,  passion,  and  even 
revelation ;  which  carries  its  hearer  out  of  himself,  and 
for  a  moment  makes  him  live  unconscious — I  had  almost 
said  independent — of  his  own  existence." 

"  Such  as  this,"  cut  in  Peace,  in  aggravating  sing-song : 


'I'll  slip  an'  slide  dein  golden  streets, 
Silver  slippers  on  my  f eets. ' 


Or  this: 


"  '  Lord  called  Daniel ;  Daniel  forgot  to  hear  him. 
Lord  called  Daniel  ;  Daniel  said,  '  Here  I  be,  Lord.' 

They're  not  spurious  imitations.     I  heard  them  at  negro 
camp-meeting  myself." 

"  Miss  Mollie,"  said  Francis  Haythorne,  frowning  at 
the  impertinent  interference,  "you  should  read  one  of 
my  German  authors.  He  claims  that  all  poetry  first  seeks 
to  find  expression  in  muscular  action,  and  metre  is  the 
softened  form  into  which  it  resolves  itself." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  137 

"  Mrs.  McCross,  isn't  dinner  ready  ?  Out  of  the 
depths  have  I  cried  unto  thee." 

"  That's  wicked,"  said  the  madarne,  shortly.  "  I  came 
to  call  you." 

"  If  you'd  waited  any  longer,  then  you  might  have 
quoted  Punch's  epitaph  on  a  candle  :  '  A  wicked  one  lies 
buried  here.'  Such  avalanches  of  learning!  " 

Francis  Haythorno  caressed  his  curling  auburn  beard 
with  lazy  grace.  The  act,  which  showed  well  his  soft, 
beautiful  hand,  always  exasperated  Peace. 

She  walked  across  the  room.  Peace  was  especially 
handsome  in  motion,  arid  began  a  conversation  with  Dea 
con  McCross,  who  was  aimlessly  turning  over  sonatas  at 
the  piano,  in  his  usual  attitude  of  spectator  at  his  own 
house. 

"  Are  you  musical  ?  "  said  she. 

"  Not  enough  to  lie  under  the  fence  to  hear  the  slivers 
rattle,"  he  returned,  pleased  with  her  notice  ;  "  but  you, 
my  dear,  look  as  if  you  might  make  music." 

"  So  she  does ;  like  Euphemia  Hitchcock,  by  the 
pound,"  interrupted  his  wife,  overhearing.  Mrs.  Mc 
Cross  stood  in  awe  of  her  tall  and  energetic  guest,  but 
hate  sometimes  got  the  upper  hand. 

"  Nineteen,  twenty,  my  stomach's  empty.  Please, 
mammy,  give  me  some  dinner  ?  "  quoted  Miss  Pelican, 
saucily. 

"  Where  did  you  buy  your  dress,"  asked  her  hostess 
in  confidence,  on  the  way  to  the  dining-room. 

"  Mamma  and  I  picked  it  out  at  Star  bird  &  Pedlow's. 
Isn't  it  pretty  ?  " 

"  Yes — rather,"  hesitated  Mrs.  McCross.  "  I  thought, 
on  account  of  the  size  of  the  figures,  I'd  get  some  for  a 
bed-quilt." 

Deacon  McCross  sat  down  at  table,  and  handed  Peace 


138  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  her  chair  as  he  did  so,  which  gave  his  wife  opportunity 
to  exclaim :  "  It  would,  perhaps,  be  as  well  to  stand 
while  Mr.  Haythorne  says  grace." 

"  You  didn't  pray  long,"  remarked  Peace,  with  a 
wicked  sparkle  in  her  eye,  after  he  had  yielded  a  doubt 
ful  and  hesitating  compliance. 

"  No  ;  brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit." 

Now  Mrs.  McCross  fancied  her  guest  unregenerate, 
and  desired  his  conversion.  "  I  noticed  you  read  from 
Chronicles,  the  other  day  at  prayers,"  began  she,  seeking 
opportunity  to  scatter  good  seed  in  his  sceptical  mind ; 
"  do  you  like  them  especially  ?  " 

"  I  chose  what  promised  to  be  least  offensive,"  he  re 
turned,  following  his  constant  habit  of  playing  upon  the 
peculiarities  of  all,  and  silently  enjoying  the  develop 
ments  that  chanced  to  ensue. 

"  Then  you  don't  believe  in  the  Bible,"  seizing  her 
chance,  with  alacrity. 

"  The  Old  Testament  is  as  reliable  as  any  collection  of 
fables.  Reason  teaches  the  absurdity  of  most  of  its 
miraculous  machinery."  He  sipped  his  coffee  with  the 
provoking  ease  of  the  incredulous  amid  a  circle  of  be 
lievers. 

"  He  that  is  in  the  way  of  life,  keepeth  instruction," 
replied  his  would-be  opponent,  as  she  poured  herself  a 
cup  of  tea,  and  smiled,  conscious  of  hitting  him  hard. 
"When  men  throw  away  the  Bible,  it's  because  they 
want  liberty  to  do  wrong.  Shall  a  man  know  more  than 
God?" 

"  Instruction  is  the  application  to  the  mind  of  metrial 
stinmlus,  thereby  inciting  it  to  labors  whose  end  is  wis 
dom.  I  have  not  always  found  this  in  the  Bible,  though 
some  do.  Goethe,  you  know,  says,  '  Every  man  must 
think  after  his  own  fashion ;  for  in  that  fashion  he  al- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  139 

ways  finds  a  truth,  or  sort  of  a  truth,  to  help  him  in  liv- 
ing."' 

"  No  matter  if  his  boasted  reasoning  makes  him  an 
infidel  atheist,"  said  Mrs.  McCross  sarcastically. 

"  Atheists  have  the  same  right  to  their  own  methods 
of  thought  as  Christians.  But  I  am  as  much  a  deist  as 
yourself." 

"  Deist !  I'm  nothing  of  the  kind  ;  I  have  no  taste  for 
heathendom,"  cried  the  defender  of  the  faith  in  genuine 
horror. 

"Better  think  wrong  honestly,  than  not  think  at  all," 
put  in  Mollie. 

;<  Nonsense,"  repudiated  Mrs.  McCross,  and  annihilated 
her  with  a  glance.  "  You  don't  know  what  you're  talk 
ing  about." 

"  Do  you  eat  olives,  Mr.  Haythorne  ? "  said  the 
Deacon,  feebly  attempting  to  arrest  the  tide.  "  Does  he, 
Miss  Peace  ?  " 

"  Yes,  he  was  weaned  on  them,"  responded  she, 
promptly. 

"I  think  Miss  Mollie  quite  right,"  the  young  man 
continued,  unconscious  of  the  addition  to  his  fore.  "  To 
quote  Goethe  again  :  '  Piety  is  but  a  means  of  reaching 
the  highest  culture  through  the  purest  repose  of  mind. 
The  inactive,  ignorant  superstition,  which  often  passes  for 
piety,  is  worse  than  striving,  earnest  scepticism." 

"  Solomon,"  quoth  the  madam,  waiving  the  ipse  dijtit 
with  just  contempt,  "  says  the  wise  man  dies  like  the  fool." 

"  That  was  when  he  had  dyspepsia,"  remarked  Peace. 

"  He  says  a  fool  is  wise  in  his  own  eyes,"  their  hostess 
retorted,  wheeling  round.  "  He  advises  us,  instead  of 
leaning  to  our  own  understanding,  to  take  fast  hold  of 
instruction,  and  what  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  wisdom 
but  the  Bible  ?  " 


140  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

11  What  Solomon  got  his  from,"  said  Peace.  "  The 
cedar  of  Lebanon,  and  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of 
the  wall." 

"  He  who  is  satisfied  with  pure  experience,"  went  on 
Mr.  Haythorne,  seeing  Mollie  interested,  and  disregard 
ing  this  side  issue,  has  truth  enough.  And  Goethe 
adds  to  the  thought:  "  '  In  this  sense  the  growing  child 
is  wise ; '  misunderstood  dogmas  are  the  scourges  of  hon 
est  piety." 

"  If  children  are  wiser  than  grown  people,  I'll  give 
up,"  said  Mrs.  McCross,  disgusted.  "  Let's  put  away  the 
rod,  and  kick  out  our  schools." 

"  Schools  are  useful  to  furnish  the  mind  with  correct 
data,  and  also  to  train  the  constructive  faculty ;  but  their 
learning  is  not  always  wisdom  :  a  one-ideaed  child  is  often 
more  clear  in  thought  than  a  fact-burdened  savant.  It 
was  Solomon's  reasoning  power,  not  his  collection  of  in 
formation,  that  made  him  great." 

"  If  you  don't  believe  in  schools  nor  religion,  you 
might  as  well  be — a — a  Manichee,"  said  Mrs.  McCross, 
snatching  at  the  first  big  word.  "  You'd  better  set  up  a 
fetich  house  at  once." 

Peace  suddenly  beheld  a  mongrel  vision  of  elegant  Mr. 
Haythorne  equipped  in  a  Congo  garment  of  gnus'  tails, 
doing  a  bit  of  fetich  worship,  and  gave  a  convulsive 
giggle,  which  was  scarcely  quenched  by  Mrs.  McCross, 
who  exclaimed  : 

"  As  the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot,  so  is  the 
laughter  of  fools." 

Mr.  Haythorne's  fastidious  face  wore,  hereupon,  an 
expression  of  polite  astonishment,  and  Mollie  was 
ashamed  of  the  turn  the  argument  had  taken.  He 
noticed  it,  and  endeavored  to  right  matters  by  saying 
quietly : 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  141 

"  You  mistake  me,  madam  ;  I  uphold  both  schools  and 
religion ;  but  they  should  be  animated  by  thought — not 
cramming  and  superstition." 

"  Popular  thought,"  said  Mrs.  McCross  in  triumph, 
"  is  unnecessary.  It  requires  no  reason  to  do  one's  work, 
— to  wash  dishes  for  instance.  The  less  time  people  idle 
away  in  dreams,  the  better  for  them.  The  whole  duty  of 
man  is  to  fear  God,  and  keep  His  commandments." 

A  long  pause  ensued,  broken  by  Mollie,  who  observed 
modestly :  "  I  have  been  thinking  of  late,  that  education 
was  best  gained  from  experiences.  I  have  met  a  few 
men  whose  stock  of  facts  is  limited,  but  who  can  reason 
on  abstract  questions  with  much  clearness.  For  this 
reason,  having  acquired  learning  enough  to  observe  intel 
ligently,  the  English  gentlemen  go  from  home  to  put 
themselves  in  new  conditions  of  life ;  to  discover,  by  the 
working  of  their  own  minds  in  unaccustomed  situations, 
the  feelings  and  wisdom  of  those  who  habitually  dwell 
therein,  and  by  wise  reduction  of  these  thoughts,  to 
learn  the  meaning  of  existence.  It  is  inability  to  put 
themselves  in  other  people's  places,  that  makes  men 
narrow-minded,  though  by  simple  following  of  God  they 
may  have  become  very  good.  Hence  books,  even  novels, 
are  a  great  blessing.  They  enable  us,  who  are  chained  to 
one  spot,  to  know  the  experiences  of  all  classes,  and  learn, 
though  less  vividly,  what  others  get  from  travel,  and 
varied  habits  of  life." 

Mollie  stopped,  her  eyes  bright  with  excitement,  and 
her  whole  soul  shining  out  of  them  upon  Mr.  Haythorne, 
who  looked  at  her  admiringly,  and  was  about  to  answer 
in  kind,  when  Mrs.  McCross  exclaimed  with  energetic 
displeasure  :  "  Novels !  I  was  piously  brought  up,  and 
taught  to  read  my  Bible,  instead  of  wasting  the  precious 
moments  upon  paltry  romances,  and  hy fall uten  trash.  It 


142  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

is  my  belief  that  novels  breed  atheists.  What  saith 
Solomon  :  '  Of  making  many  books  there  is  no  end.'  " 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  throw  down  the  authority  of  the 
Bible,"  remarked  Mr.  Haythorne  to  the  Deacon,  who  was 
listening  rather  blankly.  "What  I  look  at,  is  the 
enormous  mass  of  folly  people  feel  obliged  to  take  in  with 
its  gold." 

"  Ye-es,"  the  old  gentleman  made  answer ;  "  young  man, 
ain't  you  rather  bio  win'  yourself  up  with  the  wind  of  them 
big  idees  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  interposed  Peace.  "  The  cold  goose  has 
gone  to  his  head  !  " 

"  Your  own  Goethe  says,  wisdom  consists  only  in 
truth,"  said  Mollie.  "  The  Bible  appears  to  me  a  faith 
ful  account  of  the  wants  and  errors  of  mankind,  with 
the  means  of  cure.  In  this  light  it  is  always  infallible, 
whether  the  traditions  be  correct  or  not.  '  For  this  rea 
son,'  writes  he,  '  the  Bible  is  an  eternally  effective  book, 
and  for  all  time  no  one  can  come  up  and  say,  "  I  compre 
hend  it  as  a  whole.  I  understand  it  in  details ;  "  '  but  we 
say  modestly,  '  We  reverence  it  as  a  whole ;  we  apply  it 
in  particular.' " 

"  Do  you  understand  German,  Miss  Mollie  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  she  replied,  blushing.  "  I  speak  no  lan 
guage  except  my  own ;  but  Louis,  I  mean  Mr.  Allwood, 
used  to  be  fond  of  Goethe,  and  would  often  translate 
him  to  me." 

"  May  I  ask  who  this  Mr.  Allwood  is  ?  "  said  Francis 
Haythorne ;  "  after  reading  his  poetry,  and  seeing  his 
music,  my  interest  is  excited." 

"  A  young  chap  that  used  to  clerk  it  for  me,"  answered 
the  Deacon,  stiffly. 

"  And  do  chores  on  the  place,"  chimed  in  his  wife. 

Peace  flamed  up.     "  He  is  my  friend,  and  one  of  the 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  143 

nicest  people  I  know.  You  should  hear  him  play.  His 
tones  are  all  pearls." 

"No  such  thing.  He's  shiftless,  and  an  atheist" 
("  deist,"  corrected  Mollie,  with  flickering  color,  but  voice 
steadied  by  intensity  of  anger),  "  and  poor  as  Job's  turkey 
besides,"  went  on  her  mother ;  "  I  have  no  respect  for 
him,  nor  confidence  in  him.  I  would  speak  good  of  him 
if  I  could,  since  he  grew  up  in  Christian  influences ;  yes, 
under  my  very  eye." 

"  That  last  is  what  the  donkey  said  of  the  cabbages  he 
could  just  see  over  the  wall  of  the  next  garden,"  said 
Peace,  in  a  loud  aside. 

"  I  call  it  ill-bred  to  gabble  before  my  elders,"  retorted 
Mrs.  McCross,  aware  of  the  sting. 

"  You'll  have  to  sharpen  your  chopping  knife,  if  yoti're 
coming  at  me,"  returned  Peace,  nothing  daunted.  "  I'll 
always  speak  up  for  Louis  as  long  as  I  live,  for  he  is  as 
good  as  gold." 

The  Deacon,  after  sitting  absently  awhile,  with  his  fork 
in  the  air,  now  put  on  his  hat,  and  ambled  from  the 
house. 

Peace,  glancing  at  Mollie  to  adjust  her  tactics  to  pro 
priety,  was  startled  to  see  the  tired,  worn,  gray  look  that 
had  possession  of  her  young  face — a  look  that  the  old, 
brave,  friendly  smile  did  not  banish,  only  ennobled.  And 
Peace  had  no  reserve  of  strength  to  meet  her  friend's 
need.  "  Poor  Mollie  !  "  was  the  best,  the  sole  word  she 
could  give. 

Mr.  Haythorne  proved  a  man  of  penetration.  That 
he  had  drifted  upon  a  family  snag,  was  too  clear;  and  that 
both  his  friends  had  lodged  there,  seemed  equally  certain. 
He  therefore  paddled  his  own  canoe  into  calmer  waters 
with  all  speed,  and,  though  Poppy  said,  "  Dear  Louis, 
dear  Mollie,  ptchoo,"  every  time  he  appeared,  never,  even 


14.4:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

in  thought,  permitted  himself  to  make  a  voyage  of  dis 
covery  in  that  dangerous  neighborhood.  Notwithstand 
ing  this  laisser  oiler  behavior,  however,  he  failed  to  get 
the  Midsummer  Overture  as  he  had  intended,  and  hence 
forth  regarded  minor  poets  with  even  more  disparage 
ment  than  before,  and  what  is  still  odder,  never  analyzed 
the  feeling. 


CHAPTER  X. 

"  This  is  the  malt  that  lay  in  the  honse 
That  Jack  built." 

RANCIS  HAYTHORNE  continued  to  find  Fir 
Covert  to  his  mind.  The  girls  soon  discovered, 
or  thought  they  did,  that  his  egotism  was  the 
outgrowth  of  a  sense  of  propriety  too  fine  for  American 
rudeness,  and  so  compelling  him  into  isolation,  and  that 
he  was,  therefore,  the  rarest  of  all  rare  men ;  one  that 
a  woman  can  safely  meet,  without  that  vigilant  outlook 
upon  the  movements  of  Sir  Felinus  with  which  our 
maiden  Mousalina  is  compelled  to  arm  herself  in  his 
company. 

True,  Mollie  missed  the  graceful,  na'ive  characteristics 
that  she  so  loved  in  Louis.  He  had  the  air  of  a  man 
who  had  seen  the  world,  which  means  nowadays  that 
simplicity  is  an  abandoned  charm.  He  was,  however, 
haughtily  delicate,  and  not  only  scholarly  and  industri 
ous,  but  cultured.  He  worshipped  the  words  "  good 
taste,"  and  never  for  a  moment  lost  his  self-poise  in  ram 
pant  enthusiasm. 

His  inspectresses  were  always  longing  to  see  him  come 
out  of  his  reserve,  trying  to  find  some  key  to  unlock  his 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  145 

innermost ;  and  they  tacitly  agreed  that,  if  the  shell  of 
their  fascinating  oyster  sampled  the  pearls  therein  con 
cealed,  theirs  was  a  Ben  Trovato,  indeed. 

Peace's  mode  of  conducting  her  observations  was 
strict]  j  aggressive,  and  such  as  laid  herself  open  to  study 
quite  as  thoroughly  as  her  subject.  She  was  in  a  con 
stant  state  of  irritation  at  his  dogmatic  criticisms  and 
assertions,  and  persistent  refusal  to  endorse  any  favor 
able  opinion  she  happened  to  offer,  be  the  subject  what 
it  might. 

Their  meeting  was  always  the  signal  of  a  wordy 
battle  ;  their  tete-a-tetes  being  usually  conducted  in  this 
style  : 

"  Have  you  read  Charles  Anchester  ?  "  begins  Peace, 
laying  down  the  volume  in  question,  with  all  the  delight 
it  excites  in  young  people  vivifying  her  face. 

"  When  I  was  a  boy,"  very  condescendingly.  It  is 
chilling,  at  least,  to  be  made  to  feel  that  we  have  only 
arrived  at  a  point  left  far  behind  in  the  dim  past  by  our 
companion  ;  but  Peace  is  not  discoviraged. 

"  I  am  fascinated  with  it.  I  wish  I  was  Seraphael.  I 
wish  I  was  at  St.  Cecilia's.  I'd  like  to  use  up  my  old  gloves 
on  stupid  Sebastian  Bach,  and  know  Florimond,  and  see 
Jennie  Lind,  and  hear  the  unprincipled  violinist,  and — " 

"  Have  Jewish  finger  nails,  and  a  face  like  a  fiddle,  and 
write  a  horrid  hand.  Most  young  musicians  go  through 
a  Mendelssohn  period,  just  as  one  has  lettuce  and  asparagus 
in  spring." 

Though  begun  teasingly,  the  dictum  came  to  an  end 
with  extreme  loftiness. 

"  At  least  own  you  liked  the  book,"  persevering,  but 
beginning  to  show  annoyance. 

"  Ah !  ye-es,  up  to  the  average  of  that  style  of  literature, 
I  believe." 

7 


146  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

By  this  time  the  livre  condamne  is  clasped  protectively 
against  Peace's  magnificent  bosom,  and  she  exclaims  in 
dignantly,  "  I'm  thankful  enough  that  I  haven't  grown 
so  mature  that  I  prefer  baled  hay  and  carrots  to  honest 
pasture.  I'd  rather  munch  my  proper  nutriment  of 
thistles."  With  sniffs  of  disdain  Miss  Pelican  retires,  to 
establish  a  system  of  coquetry  between  her  dainty  feet  and 
the  andirons  supporting  their  blazing  burden,  and  thereby 
to  offer  an  extremely  artistic  coil  of  blue-black  hair  to 
Francis  Haythorne's  observation.  A  considerable  pause 
ensues,  broken  by  the  critic  : 

"  Miss  Peace  ; "  in  a  conciliatory  tone. 

Silence. 

"  Won't  you  please  answer  ?  what  made  you  go  off  so  ?  '' 

"  Because  you  spoilt  my  pleasure  in  the  book.  No 
matter  what  I  like,  you  always  snip  it  down,  and  ask  if 
it's  deep.  I  don't  care  anything  about  it's  size.  I  want 
to  enjoy  pretty  things,  and  receive  sympathy.  You  don't 
know  what  sympathy  is !  all  your  culture  is  cavilling !  " 
The  shining  coiffure  gives  emphasis  in  tosses,  but,  except 
one  crimson  ear,  she  shows  him  nothing  of  her  face. 

"  I  didn't  mean  to  take  the  zest  of  your  enjoyment 
away,"  cries  Francis  Haythorne,  really  remorseful ;  "  the 
truth  is,  I  have  forgotten  about  the  book.  I  remember 
liking  it  as  a  boy.  Let  me  have  it  to  look  over  to-night ; 
perhaps  I  found  fault  for  nothing.  I  don't  read  English 
enough  to  keep  up,  truly." 

Peace  is  thereupon  mollified,  and  lends  him  the  volume, 
which  he  lays  down  somewhere  about  three  o'clock  next 
morning,  and  owns,  as  becomes  a  man  of  honor,  that  no 
better  musical  novel  has  ever  been  written. 

After  a  few  months  of  this  sort  of  warfare,  it  began 
to  dawn  on  the  critic's  brain,  that,  though  carping  and 
appreciation  are  poles,  just  estimation  does  not  lie  in  the 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  147 

middle.  Moreover,  Peace,  whose  aggrieved  soul  was  not 
prone  to  inactivity,  made  him  an  offer  of  a  sugar-plum 
for  every  sincere  praise  he  might  allow  himself  to  utter. 
As  the  result  of  six  weeks'  faithful  observation,  she  one 
day  brought  him  a  mint-stick,  and  a  caraway  seed  picked 
from  the  candy  ornaments  of  Mrs.  McCross'  Scotch  cakes. 
"  This  whole  piece  is  because  you  said  you  thought  Mol- 
lie's  pot-pie  perfect,  and  this  teenty  taunty  one  is  what 
you  remarked  about  Thomas'  Orchestra." 

The  implication  of  the  rewards  was  even  more  dis 
gusting  to  the  refined  gentleman  than  their  paucity.  His 
conscience,  however,  forbade  vanity's  rankling  wound  to 
deter  a  wholesome  introspection,  as  result  of  which  he 
said  in  his  heart  that  the  young  lady's  malicious  strictures 
were  merited.  But  his  self-elected  censor  busied  herself 
with  fresh  plans  for  his  discomfiture. 

One  day  she  entered  Mollie's  room  bearing  a  letter 
directed,  in  her  large,  artistically  looping  hand,  to  F. 
Haythorne,  Esq.,  M.D. 

"There,"  she  exclaimed,  raising  the  gilded,  mono- 
grammed  lid,  and  drawing  forth  the  enclosed  note  with  a 
face  expressing  perfect  satisfaction,  "  if  this  don't  prove  a 
soothing  application,  I'm  disappointed.  He'll  have  to  call 
and  have  it  explained,  and  there'll  be  a  scene.  I  know 
I've  fixed  a  delightful  recreation.  I'm  nearly  seventeen, 
and  have  never  had  a  spark  of  a  flame,  not  a  snip  on  a  pro 
posal.  One  can't  be  expected  to  live  thus :  read  !  read !  " 

She  glanced  in  the  mirror,  and  readjusted  the  fall  of 
her  cashmere  skirts.  Peace  was  partial  to  woollens  (when 
she  didn't  wear  silk).  The  graceful  curves  delighted  her 
sense  of  beauty. 

"  What !  you  want  to  pin  it  to  the  wall  'tother  side  the 
room  to  decipher?  Then  I'll  give  you  the  contents 
myself! 


148  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  DEAR,  SIE  : — I  found  a  black-and-brown  striped  cater 
pillar  out  to-day.  He  is  very  anxious  to  be  put  on  the 
list  of  your  patients.  I  offered  to  telegraph  him,  but  he 
is  afraid  it  will  injure  his  constitution.  He  says  he  has 
only  two  objects  in  life :  to  see  Gen.  Grant  hung,  and  me 
settled  in  the  world.  He  wishes  me  to  state  that,  if  you 
will  tender  me  your  heart  and  hand,  he  will  die  happy. 
I  don't  in  the  least  wish  to  marry  you,  but  I  am  really 
pining  to  refuse  somebody;  and,  considering  how  often 
you  have  evinced  solicitude  for  my  welfare,  I  know  you 
will  hasten  to  give  me  the  opportunity. 

"  Furry-striped  Caterpillar,  Esq.,  wishes  me  to  add  that 
he  only  waits  the  pleasure  of  giving  us  his  dying  bless 
ings,  after  which  he  hopes  to  take  his  place  beside  Mrs. 
Furry-striped  Caterpillar,  long  since  deceased. 
"  Yours,  obedient  to  his  commmands, 

"  PEACE. 

"  P.  S. — He's  afraid  this  evening  will  be  his  last." 

"  Realize  it ! "  concluded  she,  walking  up  and  down 
in  extremity  of  her  elation.  "  Picture  what  a  fret  he'll 
be  in !  He'll  have  to  come  out  of  his  shell,  now  !  He's 
in  a  case  without  German  precedent.  What  a  stab  in  his 
precious  dignity  !  I  think  I  see  him  writhe,  impaled  on 
that  missive  like  a  fly  on  a  pin." 

"But  if  he  should  stay  away,  offended,"  suggested 
Mollie,  who  longed  to  have  the  note  sent,  but  felt  bound 
to  lay  open  the  difficulties. 

"  He  won't,"  answered  Peace,  positively.  "  He  thinks 
it's  a  sin  to  pause  long  enough  in  the  street  to  examine 
the  contents  of  a  shop  window ;  and  he  wouldn't  pry  into 
the  affairs  of  his  dearest  friend,  or  bitterest  enemy.  But 
he  is  full  of  curiosity,  for  all  that ;  and  he  couldn't  forego 
the  pleasure  of  studying  us  scientifically  for  the  world. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  149 

He'll  be  here  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  never  fear." 
Whereupon  she  turned  a  pirouette,  and  hxirried  down 
stairs  to  play  "  Three  Jolly  Brothers "  in  triumphant 
measure.  How  light-hearted  was  Peace  in  those  days  of 
early  girlhood!  Life's  sombre  shadows  showed  them 
selves  but  shadows ;  her  one  reality  was  her  own  gay 
humor. 

It  is  needless  to  add,  that  the  tormented  swain  appeared 
punctually,  to  be  welcomed  at  the  door  in  effusive  rap 
ture  by  Miss  Pelican. 

Entering  with  an  air  of  speculation,  laughably  mixed 
with  dignified  offence,  he  exchanged  his  position  for  in 
tense  disgust,  when  she  gave  him  a  languishing  glance 
from  her  great  black  eyes,  and  exclaimed  :  "So  affection 
ate  of  you  to  come  !  My  kind  protector  has  even  now 
breathed  his  last ;  but  let  me  assure  you,  my  sentiments 
are  unchanged." 

He  leisurely  doffed  his  dove-colored  overcoat,  and  a 
certain  cashmere  scarf  of  palest,  heavenly  blue,  which  he 
had  bought  because  he  couldn't  resist  its  temptations, 
and  wore  tucked  in,  in  an  amusingly  shame-faced  man 
ner  ;  also  his  cap  of  richest  sealskin ;  also  his  gloves,  of 
Quaker  dye.  In  short,  he  was  a  quiet-tempered  man 
with  a  grievance,  if  he  understood  himself;  the  gypsy 
of  extreme  fascination,  and  boundless  audacity,  awaiting 
him  at  the  door,  should  feel  the  cost  of  assaulting  a  Ger 
man  scholar,  musician,  M.D.,  and  man  of  taste. 

"  You've  come  at  last!"  pursued  the  would-be  object 
of  his  regards.  "  I  was  just  practising — 

4  How  slow  the  hours  are  gliding1,  while  here  I  wait  in  vain  ; 
Love  seems  my  sad  heart  chiding,  and  gives  my  bosom  pain  ! ' 

But  that  is  ended  now  "  (tender  sigh,  and  then  rallying). 


150  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

You  must  see  the  sad  remains  of  our  mutual  patron.  He 
makes  a  sweet  corpse." 

The  aggrieved  would  fain  have  hung  back,  but  she 
was  inexorable,  and  led  him  to  a  bell-glass,  beneath  which 
she  had  laid  out  a  not  only  deceased,  but  suspiciously 
dry,  caterpillar,  impaled  on  the  stem  of  an  ivy  leaf.  Being 
the  heaviest  of  the  two,  the  funeral  decoration  tilted  the 
stiffened  form  in  mid-air,  displaying  its  double  row  of 
black  legs  and  its  ebony  face  to  great  advantage. 

"His  features  are  quite  composed — such  a  beautifully 
paternal  expression  !  "  said  his  mourner,  sadly. 

"  Are  you  a  candidate  for  a  lunatic  asylum  ?  "  gasped 
the  Sybarite,  retreating,  shocked  to  her  full  wish. 

"  Don't  be  agitated,  I  beg,"  entreated  she,  with  tender 
solicitude.  "  Believe  me,  I.  share  your  suffering.  I, 
too,  comprehend  the  excessive  delicacy  of  the  situation. 
You  tremble!  Rouse  your  strength  of  mind  in  this  try 
ing  moment :  he !  he  !  he !  " 

"  Excessive  indelicacy  of  the  situation,"  retorted 
Francis  Haythorne,  his  drab  garb  actually  seeming  to 
darken  in  his  gravity.  "  I  can't  imagine  how  a  young 
lady  could — " 

"  Oh,  you  do  not  rise  to  the  largeness  of  the  necessity !  " 
interrupted  Peace,  gently.  "  You  need  time  to  rally 
your  thoughts,"  sympathetically.  "  I  understand  the 
magnitude  of  the  generous  act."  Here  she  broke  down 
in  a  weak  giggle,  more  irritating  than  any  preceding  part 
of  the  performance.  "  He  !  he  !  " 

"  I  came  to  demand  an  explanation  of  that  absurd  mis 
sive  !  "  cried  he,  getting  angry.  "  I  must  have  it." 

"  There !  there !  "  said  Peace,  in  a  maternally  soothing 
tone.  "  I  see  I  must  be  strong  for  both — true  enough  : 

'  When  the  little  heart  is  full, 
A  little  sets  it  off.' " 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  151 

"  I'll  not  submit  to  this !  "  cried  he,  striding  wrathfully 
to  the  hall.  "  I  will  not  be  victimized  in  this  way;  I'll 
go  at  once." 

"  If  you're  a  victim,  what  am  I  ?  Break,  heart  of  stone, 
my  Thisbe's  gone.  Alack  !  alack !  alack !  "  Executing  a 
magnificent  shriek,  Peace  fainted  d,  la  Miggs,  against  the 
parlor  door,  so  he  couldn't  get  out. 

As  there  were  two  such  means  of  egress,  he  fled 
through  the  farther  one,  but  she  was  too  quick  for  this. 

"  Stop  him,  Mollie !  stop  him.  He's  going  to  propose 
when  he  brings  his  mind  to  it ;  reassure  him  ;  pat  him  on 
the  back ;  anything.  I  must  have  the  comfort  of  refusing 
him.  I  will!  I  will!" 

Thus  cut  off  (for  Miss  McCross  darted  from  her  place 
in  the  sitting-room,  where  she  had  been  enjoying  the 
scene,  by  Peace's  advice),  the  young  man  strode  back  to 
his  tormentor,  glowing  with  vindictive  ire  through  his 
self-drilled  quietude,  like  a  coal  red  to  its  heart,  through 
its  feathery  film  of  ash.  "Miss,"  quoth  he  sternly, 
"  since  you  will  take  no  denial,  I  can't.  My  principles 
forbid  me  to  entangle  any  simple  and  unsophisticated 
girl  in  my  fate,  till  I've  worked  up  a  medical  practice, 
and  [here  he  reached  a  superb  tone  of  triumph]  thafll  be 
a  long  time  hence,  let  me  tell  you." 

Instead  of  sinking  beneath  the  blow,  the  object  of 
this  crushing  rejoinder  leaned  against  the  door  frame  to 
laugh ;  and  Francis  Haythorne  unconsciously  accepted 
the  support  of  the  opposite  casing,  speechless  from 
bewilderment. 

Here  was  he,  the  student,  the  man  who  believed  that 
a  well-bred  person  always  lived  in  isolation,  conscious  to 
himself,  though  unfelt  by  his  associates, — who  even 
reverenced  the  atom  that  moves  freely  among  its  mass, 
and  is  touched  of  no  other  atom, — here  stood  this  faithful 


152  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

adherent  to  the  truest  traditions  of  fastidious  self- reser 
vation  invited  to  furnish  sport  to  a  school-girl,  and 
totally  without  the  proper  method  of  showing  his  resent 
ment. 

By  good  luck,  Mollie  came  in  to  find  them  thus, 
hors  de  combat,  and  help  them  upon  neutral  ground. 

"  If  Peace  will  promise  not  to  piirsue  her  attentions, 
will  you  make  full  confession  about  the  kneipen  ?  "  asked 
she,  bringing  up  a  side  issue.  "  Since  you  evaded  the 
question  so  shamefully  the  other  night,  Cabby  has  gone  to 
the  length  of  looking  up  an  account  of  them  in  an 
encyclopaedia,  to  convince  us  of  your  degenerate  morals. 
He  made  out  that  American  students,  with  hazes, 
rushes,  secret  societies,  blowing  up  of  pumps,  and  all 
incidental  follies,  could  not  equal  the  practice  of 
frequenting  those  frightful  kneipen.  Come,  of  how  many 
were  you  a  member,  honor  bright  ?  Cabby  was  myste 
rious,  and  gave  tis  to  understand  that  he  is  up  in  ways 
that  are  dark  and  tricks  that  are  vain,  himself." 

"  One !  "  said  Francis  Haythorne,  glaring  at  Peace, 
whose  mirth  was  by  no  means  allayed.  ((  We  did  nothing 
ungentlemanly ;  we  never  drank  too  much,  for  that 
reason ;  we  despise  such  things.  No  !  their  attraction  to 
me  was  the  absence  of  the  abominable  sex.  I  wish  I  was 
there  now  ! "  and  he  glared  again. 

"  Do  remember  one  of  the  songs,"  begged  Mollie, 
whose  curiosity  was  stimulated  by  Louis'  adoration  of 
everything  German,  as  much  as  her  pacific  duties. 

"  Yes,"  cried  Peace,  wiping  her  eyes.  "  I'll  try  to 
forgive  you  if  it's  good,  not  verdant  and  loud,  mind." 

Now  it  was  one  of  the  amateur's  peculiarities,  that  he 
never  used  his  musical  talents,  when  he  imagined  his 
circle  of  listeners  not  enough  up  in  culture  to  appreciate 
his  skill.  He  openly  said  that  few  people  cared  for  any- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  153 

thing  better  than  omnibus  pictures,  and  if  a  good  painter 
wouldn't  degrade  his  pencil  to  execute  such  daubs,  why 
should  he,  Francis  Haythorne,  lower  his  fingers  in  the 
same  fashion?  Indeed,  he  had  once  given  this  very 
reason  to  the  friends  for  refusing  to  play  to  them. 
Whereupon  they  had  made  common  cause  of  the  plain 
reflection  upon  their  taste,  and  fought  the  battle  to 
victory. 

Since  that  date,  he  went  to  the  piano  with  perfect 
docility,  when  asked ;  but  this  evening  he  flew  thither 
on  the  wings  of  wrath,  and  sang  Heidelburg's  song  with 
gusto : 

"  Old  Heidelburg,  thou  fine  one, 
All  wealth  of  honor's  thine, 
On  the  Neckar  or  on  the  Rhine 
None  other  comes  thine  equal. 

City  of  merry  comrades, 

With  wisdom  heavy,  and  wine, 

From  the  clear  flowing  stream,  blue  eyne 

Sparkle  to  woo  thee. 

And  comes  from  the  mild  south 
The  spring,  over  mountain  and  lea. 
Out  of  his  blossoms  he  weaves  for  thee 
A  glittering  bridal  garment. 

And  with  me,  close  in  my  heart, 
Like  a  bride,  dost  thou  ever  stay. 
Like  the  spell  of  young  love  is  the  sway 
Of  thy  name  so  fondly  dear. 

When  pierced  sore  by  life's  thorns, 
Or  the  world  all  to  bleakness  fail, 
I'll  spur  my  horse  back  to  thy  vale, 
To  thy  gentle  valley,  O  Neckar." 

Ho  hurled  every  couplet  at  mischievous  Peace.     She 


154  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

had  indeed  played  her  joke,  but  he  was  not  without 
weapons. 

She  was  listening  with  due  gravity  to  the  pretty  air 
(so  much  better  in  harmony  and  melody  than  our  rat 
tling  college  songs),  to  which  Mollie  was  hastily  supply 
ing  the  alto.  Even  the  invidious  vision  of  the  wife- 
like  valley  couldn't  move  her. 

"  Mollie,"  said  she,  thoughtfully,  "  you  know  when 
he  said  he  was  tender-hearted  ?  and  that  while  he  was  a 
little  boy  he  stole  away  and  wrote  '  Francis  Haythorne's 
Lamentations,'  because  his  Pa  had  hurt  his  little  felinks 
scolding  him,  and  he'd  seen  those  poor  Jerry  put  in  the 
Bible  ?  Don't  you  believe  these  are  the  very  ones  ? 

"  Oh,  you  were  tender-hearted  to  pen  those,  as  you  say; 
But  now  you're  mean,  and  won't  propose,  to  while  my  griefs 
away. " 

The  doctor's  hasty  exit  from  the  house  precluded  the 
resumption  of  hostilities.  He  was  vanquished. 

But  it  was  more  than  one  half  hour  later  when  the 
girls  finished  talking  over  their  experiment.  That  is, 
Mollie  ceased  listening  to  Miss  Pelican's  comments. 

And  the  burden  of  all  was,  that  she  repented  teasing 
him,  and  had  liked  him  better  every  moment,  because 
his  courtesy  had  fully  stood  the  strain  upon  it,  proving 
its  rare  metal ;  and  because  she  had  laid  herself  open  to 
rudeness,  and  he  had  not  for  a  moment  thought  of  such 
self-degradation,  and  because — because — because,  he  was 
too  good  to  be  trifled  with." 

Whereby  the  doctor  will  be  seen  to  have  won  the  day. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS,  155 


CHAPTER  XL 

"  The  cat's  in  the  cream  pot. 
Eun,  boys,  run!  " 

WEEK  after  Peace's   pleasant   divertisement, 
Mollie  met  her  on  Gonecusset  Street. 

"  My  day  is  done,"  said  she,  solemnly.     "  Up 
on  the  stroke  of  twelve  I  must  depart." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  her  friend,  who  never 
knew  quite  how  to  expect  Miss  Pelican. 

"  Why,  you  are  aware  I  am  attending  school  at 
Rosenbloom ;  have  been  all  the  autumn,  only  I  dreaded 
to  launch  away  in  propria  persona.  But  yesterday  came 
a  letter  from  madame,  stating  that  as  it  is  already  De 
cember  she  will  not  suffer  me  to  eat  the  bread  of  idleness 
any  longer,  and  I  must  either  give  up  my  room  or  my 
Millville  visit.  So  you  see — 

'.Time  the  churl  had  beckoned, 
And  I  must  away — must  away. ' 

In  future  I  shall  spend  my  time  digging  German  roots 
to  pelt  you  with — not  to  speak  of  French — per  aspera 
ad  astra. 

"  Oh  dear,  do  be  more  merciful  to  me  than  you  were 
to  the  cat.  I  know  you  were  swearing  at  her  in  feline 
tongues,  the  day  you  meowed  and  frightened  her  so." 

"  Pooh  !  "  said  Peace,  "  pet  names  always  have  a  con 
trary  effect  on  animals.  I  told  Charley  that,  when  he 
called  me  a  donkey  the  last  time  I  saw  him.  I  shall  weep 
in  all  languages,"  she  added,  soberly,  "  if  I  don't  find 
you  well  and  bright  when  I  come  up  for  monthly  holi- 


156  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

days.  I  have  taken  a  scunner  at  Top  Town,"  avoiding 
Mollie's  honest  eyes,  "  and  shall  not  go  back  this  winter." 
By  the  way,  Peace  was  evidently  hurrying  to  change  the 
subject.  "  Father  writes  that  he  was  put  out  by  the 
condition  of  business  when  he  got  home,  to  that  extent 
that  he  went  to  bed  in  his  bosom  shirt  by  mistake,  and 
mother  woke  him  up  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  tell 
him  of  it.  He  eschews  board  at  the  Millville  House 
henceforth,  and  tarries  by  the  stuff." 

So  Peace  went  to  school,  not  as  light-hearted  as  she 
wished  to  appear,  and  leaving  a  vague  uneasiness  in 
Mollie's  mind.  With  her  went  Susie  Jeukens.  Sousie 
Eagan  joined  her  friends  at  Rosenbloom  soon  after,  and, 
bereft  of  these  efficient  laborers,  Patience  of  Hope  would 
have  suffered  sadly  if  Mollie  had  not  thrown  herself  into 
the  gap.  Most  people  teach  Sunday-school  as  a  pious 
interlude  in  the  real  business  of  life ;  but  to  Mollie  the 
place  was  holy  ground.  She  went  softly,  and  with  un 
shod  feet.  It  was  awesome,  and  yet  passing  sweet.  She 
spoke  to  her  people  by  day,  and  stood  facing  God  by 
night,  and  carried  His  calm  tenderness  as  Moses  brought 
away  His  glory. 

The  school  gradually  worked  out  of  the  Nicksonian  spirit 
into  her  own.  Gentleness  and  tenderness  .  replaced  shak 
ing  and  cuffs.  The  craving  poverty  that  Louis'  absence 
made  in  Mollie's  heart  comfort  became  the  riches  of  the 
poor.  Their  lacks  and  longings  were  like  an  open  book 
to  her  clairvoyance,  and  she  loved  them  out  of  the  over 
mastering,  all-pervading  love  she  bore  one  slender  boyish 
absentee.  There  were  other  loves  and  hungers  at  work 
in  the  school,  moreover.  Jan  Vedder,  a  robust  type  of 
muscular  Christianity,  remained  faithful  to  Sonsie  Eagan's 
parting  trust — six  rollicking  boys ;  and  Peter  Bradshaw 
did  his  devoir  to  Zoe,  and  so  far  converted  his  scholars, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  157 

that  they  waged  deadly  war  over  the  superior  use  of 
cams  in  machinery  to  any  other  modes  of  modifying 
action ;  and  he  worked  till  one  o'clock  Saturday  nights 
upon  knotty  problems  in  hydrostatics,  to  which  science 
he  and  the  class  devoted  themselves  every  Sabbath. 
Mary  Ann  Nickson  had  kept  the  hold  on  Doppy's  heart 
gained  from  Amos'  introduction,  and  every  Sunday  tried 
her  best  to  tell  the  young  band  how  to  find  the  one  thing 
valuable  in  the  dusty  and  stony  walk  of  life  she  must 
tread  as  well  as  they.  And  it  was  Christ,  Sonsie  Eagari's 
Christ,  who  was  her  comfort,  and  made  her  know  how 
to  overcome  her  poor  plain  face,  and  numbed  intellect 
and  harsh  training,  and,  in  spite  of  all,  win  the  confi 
dence  of  these  waifs,  whose  life  was  like  a  shadow  of  her 
own. 

But,  though  the  individual  classes  grew  quiet  and 
orderly,  the  noisy  element  was  continually  refreshed  by 
new-coiners,  and  the  singing  still  croaked  like  a  frog- 
pond,  and  the  lessons  hummed  as  a  swarin  of  bees. 

After  Christmas,  Francis  Haythorue  went  on  a  three- 
months'  trip  to  Alaska,  inspired  thereto,  perhaps,  by 
Peace's  contemptuous  statement,  that  a  man  who  never 
took  a  chance  to  freeze  his  fingers  wasn't  worth  looking 
at,  accompanied  by  a  gift  of  jaunty  white  mittens  with 
red  tassels,  the  lovely  work  of  her  own  hands. 

The  winter  and  summer,  and  the  next  winter,  wore 
away  without  notable  event.  Only  two  letters  reached 
Mollie  from  Louis.  Captain  Slocum  saw  them  at  the 
office  accidentally,  and  brought  them  to  her.  He  had 
written  regxilarly,  and  wondered  that  she  didn't  answer 
his  questions.  It  was  no  use  to  tell  him  that  her  nearest 
and  dearest  were  these  that  played  her  false.  At  least 
she  could  not.  So  she  was  brave  in  keeping  it  to  herself, 
though  it  gnawed  at  her  heart ;  and  she  beat  it  down, 


158  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

and  went  quietly  about  her  soup-kitchens,  and  temper 
ance  society. 

The  second  Easter  vacation  brought  Peace,  and,  since 
swallows  never  come  singly,  Miss  Petingil  one  day  made 
them  a  call,  which  has  its  importance  in  this  history. 

Peace,  who  was  bending  over  a  fragment  of  the  grace 
ful,  womanly  work  she  loved — I  forget  whether  it  was 
embroidery,  canvas,  crochet,  or  tatting ;  she  did  them  all, 
and  to  perfection — Peace  saw  her  coming,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Don't  tell  that  horrid  old  thing  I'm  here.  She  has  a 
natural  hatred  of  guileless  innocence  like  mine.  I'll  hide." 

The  wilful  lassie,  work-basket  and  all,  was  ensconced 
behind  the  heavy  dun  curtains  in  a  trice,  leaving  Mollie  to 
her  fate.  Miss  McCross,  in  fact,  watched,  with  equal 
vexation,  the  approach  of  the  prim  black  alpaca,  stalking 
solemnly  up  the  walk.  Every  fold  in  that  thrice-turned 
dress  was  primed  with  gossip.  Gossip  and  snuff  fought 
hard  in  its  spinster  pocket  to  come  out  first  with  the 
starched  kerchief,  and  the  blue  yarn  stocking  everlast 
ingly  in  the  knitting.  Gossip  perched  on  every  thin  curl 
that  decorated  the  maiden's  hard-favored  noddle,  and 
peeped  with  equal  zest  and  malice  from  her  shrewd, 
greenish -gray  eyes. 

I  have  had  a  somewhat  extended  acquaintance  with 
the  criminal  classes.  I  have  dealt  with  reformatories, 
and  reflected  much  upon  the  phases  of  regeneration. 
There  is  but  one  crime  incapable  of  cure — for  only  one 
brings  no  remorse.  The  scandalmonger  is  a  hopeless 
subject. 

Miss  Petingil  felt  no  compunction  as  she  rang  the 
door-bell.  She  was  intent  on  the  occupation  of  a  life 
time.  Funeral,  wedding,  christening,  she  attended  them 
all ;  and  if  any  thereat  lacked  information,  it  was  her 
misfortune,  and  not  her  fault.  Was  she  her  own  fash- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  159 

ioning,  or  society's  ?     On  whom  lay  the  blame  ?     Who 
bore  the  greatest  curse  ? 

To-day  her  dignity  was  tremendous,  and  her  mission 
therefore,  proportionably  important. 

"  Mebbe  your  ma's  at  home,"  said  she,  when  Mollie 
opened  the  door.  "  Never  mind,  I'll  jest  come  in  and 
set  a  while."  And  she  dropped  into  the  new  mosaic 
chair,  to  which  Mrs.  McCross'  sickly  fingers  had  given 
the  finishing  touch  a  week  before. 

"  I  don't  b'lieve  the  gel  cared  a  mite,"  she  told  Mrs. 
Williams  next  day.  "  She  didn't  look  put  out,  though 
I  sot  on't  the  fust  thing."  But  the  patchwork  cushion 
was  a  small  consideration  compared  to  that  into  which 
the  tailoress  plunged  without  preface. 

"  I  want  to  know  if  you've  heerd  the  way  that  All- 
wood,  that  used  to  work  fur  your  Pa's,  been  agoin'  it  ? 
No  ?  Dew  tell !  You  needn't  perk  up  your  head  so 
pert  about  it.  I  s'pose  you  ain't  in  love  with  him,  nor 
anything.  You  won't  have  any  snuff?  I  guess  I'll  take 
a  pinch ;  it's  real  comfortin'."  Miss  Petingil  always 
snuffed  when  she  gossiped.  It  gave  her  opportunity  to 
note  any  little  symptom  in  the  subject. 

Mollie  warily  drew  her  arm-chair  in  front  of  Peace's 
hiding-place,  and  played  nervously  with  the  tassels  of  her 
loose  dress.  She  had  no  shade  of  distrust  of  Louis,  but 
the  woman  sickened  her.  What  right  had  she  to  mention 
him? 

"  I  s'pose  you  know,"  continued  Miss  Petingil,  spread 
ing  the  gathers  of  her  dress  straight  with  her  left  hand, 
while  she  still  plied  her  nose  with  the  "yarb,"  in  all  the 
pauses, — "  the  feller  went  into  them  Pelicans'  licker 
saloon  up  in  Top  Town.  I  das  to  say  that  ere  Peace  gel 
was  settin'  her  cap  for  him.  But  she's  seen  the  folly  of 
it.  Peculiar  !  1  must  say." 


160  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

The  young  lady  had  been  sitting  with  a  mixture  of 
amusement  and  disgust  011  her  clear  features,  over  which 
every  feeling  glided  as  the  light  wind  plays  on  the  surface 
of  a  lake,  but  troubles  not  its  calm  depths.  Now  a  new 
emotion,  strange  to  Mary  McCross,  ruffled  her  face,  and 
taught  her  for  the  first  time  to  drop  the  lids  over  her  eyes, 
made  violet  with  fear.  But  she  held  her  ground. 

"  Miss  Pelican  is  my  dear  friend,"  said  she,  with  gentle 
gravity.  "  I  don't  like  to  hear  her  lightly  spoken  of." 

"  I  cackellate  I  know  them  Pelicans  as  well  as  the 
next  one,"  pursued  the  old  lady,  in  no  wise  abashed ; 
"  and  I  ain't  at  all  averse  to  speak  my  mind  about  'em. 
Codfish  aristocracy,  I  call  'em.  Made  all  their  money 
out  o'  delirum  tremens,  an'  sich." 

Peace  muttered  something  wrathfully  behind  her  cur 
tain,  and  Mollie  trembled  in  anticipation  of  a  sudden  de 
scent  upon  the  tale-bearer ;  but  for  some  good  reason  the 
angry  girl  kept  her  place.  This  very  self-restraint  alarmed 
her  friend.  Her  visitor's  next  words  told  the  story. 

"  It's  no  more'n  charity  to  let  you  know  how  your  folks 
hev  ben  imposed  upon  by  that  All  wood."  Miss  Petingil 
put  on  a  pair  of  round  spectacles  as  she  spoke,  that  she 
might  watch  her  victim's  face  more  closely.  "  Young 
Brown,  Cap'n  Slocum's  nephew,  came  from  town  yester 
day,  and  I  heerd  him  tellin'  Squire  Hitchcock  about  it. 
You  see  the  chap's  habits  ain't  nun  too  good,  an'  Brown 
met  him  an'  Pelican  hoi  din'  on  each  other,  up  about  mid 
night.  Adolphy  said  he  had  to  laff  to  see  A 11  wood 
hoppin'  over  the  shadders  the  lamp  posts  made  on  the 
pavin'  stuns.  Ef  you'll  b'lieve  me,  he  cleared  every 
one,  thinkin'  'em  logs,  or  suthin'.  Wan't  it  peculiar  ?  " 
She  wiped  her  snuffy  fingers  on  her  stiff  handkerchief, 
but  never  once  moved  her  gaze  from  Mollie. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  161 

The  latter  had  learned  self-command  in  too  hard  a 
school  to  wince.  She  answered  calmly,  "  I  should  thiiik 
so ;  but,  as  I  hinted  before,  1  do  not  wish  to  hear  about 
it ;  "  and  rose  to  end  the  interview. 

The  spinster  didn't  stir.  "  Oh,  you  needn't  go  off,  Moll. 
I  ain't  agoin'  till  I  finish  my  visit.  I  thought  you'd  be 
shocked  "  (she  gave  a  relieved  sigh).  "  As  I  told  Ade- 
lizy  Euphemy.  '  Adelizy,'  sez  I,  'ef  Mollie  McCross  is 
sett-in'  store  by  that  feller,  she'd  orter  be  warned,  an'  I'll 
put  on  my  bunnit  an'  go  over  this  very  afternoon,  an' 
she'd  do  wrong  not  to  thank  me  for't.'  " 

The  old  thing  brimmed  with  malice  as  she  proceeded  ; 
but  her  listener  didn't  yield  a  jot.  She  sat,  her  graceful 
hands  motionless  in  her  lap,  her  position  easy  and  uncon 
strained.  Her  muscles  had  not  contracted  a  hair's- 
breadth  in  that  whole  fifteen  minutes'  agony.  Only  fif 
teen  minutes — it  seemed  a  lifetime.  Her  face  was  gray 
and  weary,  but  simple  will  set  her  firm,  womanly 
mouth  close,  lifted  her  clear,  unflinching  eye  to  her  tor 
mentor's,  and  made  her  say  in  her  cool,  liquid  voice, 
"  Do  you  think  so,  Miss  Petingil  ?  I'm  sure  Louis  and 
I  feel  the  obligation  equally.  We  will  always  bear  it  in 
mind." 

"  Well,  I  dew  hope,"  advised  the  tailoress,  patroniz 
ingly,  moving  as  she  spoke  toward  the  door,  "  you  hain't 
no  hankering  after  that  feller.  He's  a  gone  coon.  Brown 
said  it  was  wuth  five  dollars  to  ha'  seen  him  reelin'  an' 
skippiu'  along  the  street.  Take  a  friend's  counsel,  an' 
drop  him  like  a  hot  potato."  Miss  Petingil  let  fall  the 
big  jointed  forefinger,  with  which  she  had  been  gesticu 
lating,  in  illustration. 

"  I  never  drop  a  hot  potato.  I  should  hold  it  till  I 
was  ready  to  lay  it  down,  if  it  burned  me  to  the  bone," 
said  Mollie,  hors  de  combat  on  the  weighty  matter,  and 


1G2  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

glad  of  opportunity  to  let  out  her  antagonism  in  a  side 
issue  ;  and  sue  shut  her  lips,  so  firm  and  handsome,  and 
stood,  her  muscles  tense  now,  her  nostril  dilating  like  a 
stag's — a  very  type  of  power. 

Miss  Petingil  felt  the  pleasure  dear  to  the  hunter  when 
his  game  turns  at  bay.  She  admired  bravery,  with  a 
scientific  taste.  "  Now  I  think  on' t,  your  ma'  promised 
me  some  Egyptian  poppy  seeds,  an'  ef  you'll  fetch  'em  I'd 
as  lief  wait  as  not," — she  parleyed  at  the  door. 

Scarcely  was  Mollie  out  of  the  room  when  the  gossip 
re-entered  it,  and  hurried  toward  the  curtain  where  sat 
Peace. 

Her  design  was  anticipated,  for  that  young  lady  stepped 
out  with  blazing  eyes.  "  You  miserable  mischief-maker, 
1  look  at  you  in  astonishment.  Have  you  any  woman  in 
you  ?  " 

"  Massy  sakes  ! "  screamed  the  old  lady,  "  ef  you  don't 
want  to  know  what  you  are,  don't  set  listening.  As  for 
that  McCross  gel,  I  come  up  here  to  see  ef  it  was  true 
she  was  goin'  to  marry  him.  Folks  say  she  is,  an'  I  bet 
it's  so.  She's  wuth  two  of  you  any  day,  for  all  your 
paneers  behind,  and  your  disgraceful,  low-necked,  dress 
waists  in  front.  I  thought  likely  you  was  listening,  or  I'd 
ha'  said  more ;  an'  now  you've  come  out,  I  will  free  my 
mind.  Ef  I'd  ha'  been  Mary  McCross,  I'd  ha'  sent  my 
lover  anywhere,  ruther  than  to  Charley  Pelican,  that  all 
the  world  knows  never  could  do  nothin'  but  sing  political 
songs,  an'  git  drunk.  There !  Ef  you  don't  like  it,  you 
may  lump  it!  " 

Peace  shook  from  head  to  foot.  "  I  despise  you,"  said 
she.  "  God  do  so  to  you,  and  more  also." 

Mollie,  coming  in,  heard,  and  ran  to  her.  "Dear 
Peace,  dear,  dear  Peace,  don't !  "  cried  she.  "  We 
mustn't  curse  her.  Go  away,  Miss  Petirgil !  "  and  she 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  1(53 

pressed  the  seeds  into  her  hand,  and  pointed  to  the  door. 
"  Don't  you  see  the  harm  you've  done  ?  Don't  stay  to 
tempt  us  any  further." 

"Harm!"  screamed  the  old  woman,  pocketing  her 
prize,  and  then  shaking  the  liberal  hand  at  the  maddened 
sister ;  "  she's  the  harm  !  blackguardin'  me,  an'  listenin' 
in  such  ways  as  no  lady  'd  demean  herself  to  come  to ! 
You'd  better  read  your  Bible,  miss  !  '  The  child  that  de- 
spiseth  its  mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall  pick  out 
its  eyes,  an'  the  young  eagles  shall  eat  them." 

"Are  you  the  vulture  to  finish  the  bones?"  said  the 
poor  girl,  bitterly. 

But  the  tailoress  was  now  intrenched  in  dignity,  and 
went  her  way,  condescending  no  reply.  I  trow  Nero 
himself  might  well  have  envied  her  afternoon's  work. 

When  she  was  gone,  the  two  young  sufferers  stood 
looking  in  each  other's  face,  speechless.  But  at  last 
Mollie's  rigid  self-command  gave  way.  "  O  Peace  !  " 
she  exclaimed,  passionately,  "  can't  you  say  it  isn't 
true  ?  " 

But  Peace  leaned  her  haughty  head  against  the  win 
dow-frame,  and  sobbed  aloud.  "  It  is  true,"  said  she, 
fiercely,  "  every  word,  and  more  !  I  hate  them,  I  hate 
my  very  being,  everybody  ;  I  wish  I  was  dead,  I  wish 
everybody  was  !  "  She  gasped  once  or  twice,  and  then 
rushed  from  the  room. 

As  her  footsteps  died  away,  Mollie,  my  dear  Mollie, 
sank  on  her  knees,  to  begin  a  new,  bitter  battle  with 
pain. 

First  came  the  fierce,  intolerable  sense  of  misplaced 
love,  and  shame,  amounting  to  physical  agony.  They 
swept  away  the  very  framework  of  her  existence — her 
faith,  her  world,  her  God.  She  clutched  at  each  for  sup 
port,  and  grasped  emptiness.  There  are  moments  in 


164  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

some  lives  when  every  experience  of  the  past,  every 
hope  of  the  future,  every  nerve,  every  vital  power-gene 
rating  organ,  seems  to  concentrate  its  force  in  one  intense 
pang ;  at  that  point  the  mind  must  either  snap  or  relax. 
Mollie's  relaxed  ;  numbness,  vacancy,  ensued.  Then  she 
rallied  a  little,  and  fell  to  thinking  how  she  and  Louis 
used  to  make  poppy  shows,  and  shake  her  grandmother's 
forbidden  tulips  for  their  brilliant  spoil — Bangutter's 
leaves  they  called  them,  in  memory  of  Mrs.  Price's  in 
dignation  at  the  mistaken  title  bestowed  in  Mollie's  ear 
liest  speech. 

The  foolish  memory  brought  tears.  Her  dear,  gentle 
Louis,  whom  she  had  thought  so  noble  !  Alas  !  alas ! 
Mollie  never  struggled  with  herself  after  those  bitter 
drops  baptized  her  love.  He  was  hers  now ;  hers 
through  all,  her  very  own  ! — to  love,  suffer  with — and, 
highest,  holiest  privilege,  to  save.  Louis  and  ideal  bliss 
she  dared  not  claim,  but  Louis  in  need  of  her,  sinning 
and  wounding  himself,  could  not  call  vainly.  He  had  a 
right  to  look  to  her  to  bind  up  his  hurts,  and,  with  a 
free,  exulting  sense  of  strength,  she  realized  how  she 
could  joyfully  shed  her  heart's  blood,  drop  by  drop,  for 
him — all  for  him.  She  knelt,  full  of  this  new  joy,  and 
pledged  her  life  for  his  before  God  ;  and  the  old,  almost 
forgotten  "  peace  "  filled  her  soul,  supplanting  alike  the 
long  war  of  duty,  and  the  delirium  of  first  regained 
liberty. 

Then  she  remembered  their  common  reproach  :  it  was 
she  that  should  bear  his  sins  and  carry  his  sorrows  hence 
forth  ;  afid,  sighing  and  blushing  with  shame,  and  crying 
hot  tears  of  misery,  she  went  up-stairs  to  pray  for  him, 
and  write  him  a  letter,  without  a  word  of  reproof,  full  of 
love,  and  hope,  and  blessing. 

At  length  Charlie's  sister  came  back.     She  had  tried 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  165 

to  walk  her  passion  out,  and  returned  faint  and  weary, 
but  with  stormy  face. 

"  I  cannot  bear  it,"  said  she.  "  They  have  no  right  to 
do  so.  I  hate  them  !  I  could  curse  them  for  their  folly 
— and  myself  for  caring  about  them.  O  Mollie !  what 
shall  we  do  ?  " 

Just  then  Mrs.  McCross'  scolding  voice  came  sharply 
from  below,  and  the  Deacon's  "  now,  Mirandy,  do  be 
easy,"  in  feeble  expostulation.  Mollie  shut  the  door  ;  the 
old  suffering  grated  on  the  new.  Peace  was  frightened 
by  the  gray,  pain-drawn  face  she  turned  toward  her. 
But  Mollie's  firm,  pleasant  voice  reassured,  as  she  drew 
her  friend  to  a  seat,  and,  with  a  few  caresses,  brought 
the  so  much  needed  tears.  "  Dear,  dear  Peace,"  said 
she,  "  God  can  teach  us  how  to  suffer."  Then,  after  a 
silence,  as  the  poor  girl's  sobs  grew  fainter  (her  head 
rested  against  Mollie's  shoulder,  and  Mollie's  magnetic 
touch  was  on  her  hand),  the  lover  added,  "  Without 
sorrow  none  liveth  in  love." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

"  Here  we  go,  up-up-up, 
Here  we  go,  round-round-roundy, 
Here  we  go  this  way  and  that, 
And  here  we  go  down-down-downy." 

fjISERY,"  said  Mary  McCross,  "  is  the  result  of 
too  great  self-concentration.  I  am  going  to 
spend  the  morning  in  Syllabub."  Peace  made 
a  horrible  face.  She  expected  to  return  to  Rosen- 
bloom  next  day ;  and,  besides,  was  filling  in  a  canvas 


166  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

copy  of  Powers'  Greek  Slave,  and  disliked  interrup 
tion.  Privately,  I  think  such  caricatures  of  art  mon 
strous  and  disgusting;  but  they  were  all  the  rage,  and, 
in  spite  of  her  strong,  good  sense,  Miss  Pelican  as  often 
did  the  things  a  la  mode,  as  the  things  a  son  ccewr.  She 
didn't  object  to  personal  charity,  in  a  small  way,  and  she 
was  lavish  in  money-giving ;  she  had  even  experienced 
a  degree  of  pleasure  in  the  Patience  of  Hope  class, 
especially  the  part  where  Francis  Haythorne  walked  home 
with  her.  Bat  the  smells  that  particularly  belong  to 
poverty,  the  drunken  women,  and  the  pigs,  were  her 
abomination. 

However,  Mollie  was  set  on  the  walk.  She  had  a  pie 
for  little  Doppy,  a  shirt  for  Mr.  Heffron  the  piper, 
and  a  shawl  for  Mrs.  Dennis,  all  of  which  were  needed 
at  that  precise  time,  so  there  was  no  way  of  escape. 

On  the  road  they  called  to  see  the  Rev.  Mr.  Growing, 
whom  they  found  at  the  Bizbys'  solacing  himself  with 
his  third  pipe  and  Shakespeare.  He  was  revisiting  his 
former  pastorate,  and  welcomed  Mollie  warmly.  His 
sunny,  open  face  was  a  great  uplift  to  her.  She  felt  bet 
ter  before  he  said  a  word. 

Few  appreciate  the  comfort  and  rest  a  real  pastor 
gives  his  flock.  Out  of  office  he  may  meet  them  but 
seldom,  but  as  he  lays  holy  things  before  them  Sabbath 
after  Sabbath,  he  gets  to  occupy  a  vast  importance  in 
their  souls'  economy.  The  weak  quote  him.  The  strong 
renew  their  strength  in  him.  Through  him,  God  supports 
the  mourner,  and  confirms  godliness.  He  embodies, 
moulds,  and  wields  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  commu 
nity.  He  bears  in  him  the  power  of  God,  which  is  the 
more  often  forgotten  because  of  its  silent  strength. 
Though  perhaps  a  timid  thinker,  he  harnesses  the  runners 
in  the  race ;  though  no  genius,  his  warm  Christ  home  is 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  1(57 

often  the  nursery  of  genius.  In  a  word,  lie  says  of  his 
people,  with  a  depth  of  truth  only  he  himself  can  know, 
"  My  little  children,  for  whom  I  travail  in  birth." 

But,  to  Molly,  Mr.  Growing  had  been  more  than  even 
the  minister.  He  was  her  tried  friend,  fellow- worker, 
and  confidant.  With  a  suggestion  he  had  often  helped 
her  out  of  her  unspoken  troubles.  It  was  to  him  that 
she,  with  great  difficulty,  told  her  heart,  touching  her 
new-born  Christ ;  and  though  she  never  asked  sympathy 
or  aid  again,  she  unconsciously  held  him  as  a  physician, 
only  to  be  applied  to  in  extremity,  but  certain  to  cure. 

He,  on  his  side,  rejoiced  in  her  energetic  love  of  truth 
and  helpfulness,  and,  though  it  was  sweet  to  carry  his 
lambs  over  the  rough  places,  felt  a  comradeship  with  this 
sturdy  pilgrim,  who  feared  to  breast  no  storm.  He 
quietly  watched  her  in  what  Goethe  would  call  her  appren 
ticeship  ;  incited  her  aspirations  for  culture  and  expe 
rience  without  her  knowing  it,  helping  to  direct  them 
wisely  and  happily  ;  and,  if  he  sometimes  shook  his  head 
over  the  battles  she  was  certain  to  fight,  he  forebore  to 
dishearten  by  criticism  or  prophecy. 

Mollie  had  missed  him  since  he  went  to  Cannadasset. 
She  would  feel  his  loss  more  in  this  crisis  of  her  life.  It 
was  her  need  time.  She  told  him  so,  only  half  realizing 
it  as  she  spoke.  "  No  !  no  !  "  answered  he  earnestly  ; 
"  remember  Don  Quixote.  Pray  devoutly,  hammer  on 
stoutly." 

"  I  shall,"  she  said  with  her  customary  quiet  intensity, 
and  he  didn't  doubt  her. 

On  her  side  she  asked  about  Cannadasset,  in  a  grave, 
ministerial  fashion,  as  if  knowing  the  weak  spots  in  parish 
work  by  instinct. 

He  told  her  all  the  pinches :  the  hitch  in  the  prayer- 
meeting,  the  difficulty  in  collections,  the  impracticable 


168  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

plans  for  reaching  the  proud  poor,  the  crying  want  of 
culture  among  Phil  Penhurst's  operatives,  which  last  he 
and  the  young  manufacturer  were  trying  to  meet  by  night 
schools  and  woman's  societies.  lc  If  I  can  only  get  the 
widows  to  pray  for  me,  I'm  all  right,"  said  Fred,  wind 
ing  up  a  Harlequin  of  ministerial  puzzles,  which  Mollie 
evidently  understood,  and  had  hung  up  for  private  tilts 
in  future  leisure.  In  fact  she  was  not  waiting  for  time 
coming,  but,  absorbed  in  consideration,  rose,  shook  hands 
abstractedly,  and  wandered  away  still  deep  in  thought, 
leaving  Peace,  whose  share  in  these  weighty  discussions 
had  been  amused  listening,  to  carry  off  the  shirt  and  pie 
and  shawl,  all,  including  herself,  being  totally  forgotten. 

The  slush  of  a  parting  snow-storm  was  under  foot. 
The  spring,  as  Miss  Petingil  said,  "  was  drefful  late  an' 
tejus;"  adding,  "for  her  part  she  found  if  she  lived 
through  March,  she  noticed  she  was  pretty  apt  to  last  the 
hull  year." 

On  wading  down  to  Syllabub,  Peace  judiciously  woke 
her  friend  just  before  they  reached  the  "  Solomon  Rodgers," 
and  they  entered,  to  find  Doppy  in  a  state  of  tear-streaked 
despair.  Since  Mrs.  Nickson's  death,  the  waif  had  trans 
ferred  her  allegiance  to  Mollie,  though  Francis  Haythorne 
nominally  taught  the  class ;  and  Amos  highly  approved 
the  feminine  selection,  for  the  elegant  and  fastidious 
physician  was  rather  despised  by  the  muscular  young 
Hibernians.  Mollie  with  a  woman's  instinct,  which  teaches 
her  to  still  her  heart  pang  by  some  helpless  care,  drew  the 
hot-tempered  little  emerald  inta-her  soul,  and  gave  her  lib 
erally  both  affection  and  aid.  She  would  have  done  the 
same  by  Joe,  had  not  Miss  Heffron  disdained  such  effem 
inate  guardianship.  Johanna,  poor  thing,  regulated  her 
ideas  by  the  standard  of  her  boy  associates. 

This  day  appeared  to  have  been  a  sad  one  for  Doppy. 


Sff/FTLESS  POLES.  169 

Her  visitors  discovered  her  plodding  hopelessly  through 
jagged  seams  of  a  half-made  chemise,  "  whose  conthrariness 
was,"  she  affirmed,  "  beyond  belavin' ; "  and  its  bulgy  gores, 
raw-edged  hems,  fulled  fells,  and  stitches  all  dotted  from 
needle-stabs,  were  enough  to  provoke  pity  even  in  Mrs. 
"Williams,  who  was  notably  the  hardest  woman  in  Millville. 

Mollie  was  on  the  alert  now.  She  seated  herself  on  a 
promiscuous  chair  without  ado,  and  gently  twitched  the  gar 
ment  away  to  look  at  its  workmanship.  It  smelled  as  if 
it  had  been  used  as  dish-cloth  and  duster,  and  its  damp 
condition  rendered  it  probable  that  it  had  dried  its  seam 
stress'  eyes. 

"  How  much  better  you  sew !  "  said  the  examiner,  as 
suming  the  battered  brass  thimble,  and  beginning  to 
rip,  baste,  and  hem,  with  every  appearance  of  content. 
Doppy,  who  was  kneeling  beside  her  to  observe  the  pro 
cess,  gave  a  comforted  smile,  and  watched  the  amend 
ment  of  a  zig-zag  place  in  intense  interest. 

But  Peace  considered  the  ravelled,  silken  seams  of  her 
life  too  badly  frayed  to  admit  of  reformation,  and 
attempts  at  bettering  the  poor,  time-garment  of  a  street- 
child,  appeared  weary  adding  to  misery. 

Having  therefore  pelted  the  cats,  secretly  turned  up 
her  nose  at  a  horrible,  all-pervading  odor  of  burnt  pota 
toes,  and  studied  the  fly-specked  Madonna  till  she  began 
to  feel  as  if  the  end  of  her  nose  was  equally  sharp  and 
crocky,  she  vented  her  ennui  in  patting  her  little  foot 
on  the  bare  floor  with  vehement  protest,  and  inchilged  in 
indignant  coughs  as  Mollie  entered  upon  a  third  long 
fell  with  unruffled  placidity. 

But  though  Miss  McCross  paid  no  attention  to  Miss 

Pelican's  fidgets,   Doppy  was    much  exercised  thereby ; 

and,  after  brief  consideration  of  the  ameliorating  means 

at  hand,  resolved  to  sweep.     She  had  kicked  up  a  mighty 

8 


170  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

dust,  when  she  remembered  the  "  E.  McCross  "  on  the 
broom-handle,  and  dashed  the  tell-tale  implement  into 
the  cupboard,  with  an  impulse  of  burning  shame  and 
regret. 

Mollie  sewed  on  quietly ;  and,  looking  at  the  little 
girl,  who  stood  rooted  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  twisting 
a  lock  of  hair,  ready  to  cry,  asked  in  her  pleasant  sunny 
voice, 

"  When  did  it  happen  ?  " 

There  was  neither  anger  nor  reproof  in  the  tones. 
Accordingly  Doppy  did  not  feel  called  upon  to  turn 
dogged  or  defend  herself.  She  crept  humbly  toward  her 
friend,  and  hid  her  face  in  her  dress  without  a  word. 

The  teacher  whose  heart  was  very  sore  with  her  own 
pain,  experienced  a  strange  throbbing  sympathy  for  the 
repentant  reprobate  trembling  against  her  knee.  She 
laid  her  hand  gently  upon  the  bent  head ;  when  Doppy 
ventured  to  look  up  in  her  face,  she  saw  her  eyes  full  of 
tears.  Something  in  that  frightened,  appealing  glance 
stole  all  Mary's  power  of  repression,  and,  helpless  in  the 
grasp  of  emotion,  she  rested  her  head  against  the  battered 
chair-back,  and  wept  in  spite  of  herself.  It  was  all  one 
bitterness,  and  all  gates  opened  the  prisoned  fountain. 

Doppy  had  never  seen  a  lady  cry  before.  It  was  differ 
ent  from  any  confession  of  pain  she  had  witnessed  ;  so  noise 
less,  so  imperious,  so  resolutely  combated,  so  plainly  only 
hurt;  so  patient  and  uncomplaining.  She  was  frightened, 
and,  forgetful  of  her  remorse,  laid  her  friend's  hand 
against  her  hot  little  cheek,  and  begged  her  to  be  happy 
once  more,  and  kissed  the  passive  fingers  again  and  again 
with  all  the  fervor  of  her  impetuous  Irish  nature.  And, 
when  Mollie  regained  her  self-control,  and  sat  up  pale 
and  weak,  she  could  not  rest  till  her  caresses  were  re 
turned,  and  her  peace  made ;  and,  still  in  the  bitterness 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  171 

cf  inner  suffering,  Mollie  took  the  little  comforter  on 
her  knee,  and  laying  her  head  against  her  shoulder,  gave 
her  the  taste  of  mother-love  and  mother-fondling  the 
poor  child  so  craved  and  needed,  and  found  again  her 
own  strength  thereby. 

Miss  Pelican,  quite  forgotten  by  the  actors  in  this  drama 
of  penitence,  had  felt  her  own  composure  much  shaken, 
and  retired  to  a  corner  to  give  them  a  free  "  outing." 
Finding  calmness  now  to  reign,  she  gathered  up  her 
scattered  bundles,  and  remarked  sarcastically,  "  Let  thy 
moderation  be  known  unto  all  men — ingoing  home,"  when 
the  door  opened  to  admit  Joe's  old  man,  drunk. 

With  never-tiring  charity,  Mollie  had  provided  him 
coal  and  food  and  work.  The  more  she  gave,  the  less 
he  did.  He  labored  two  days  out  of  six,  and  raved  in 
drunken  delirium  the  odd  four.  At  length  he  threw 
down  his  brush,  declaring  that,  as  he  had  labored  for  the 
benefit  of  humanity,  humanity  was  bound  to  support 
him.  A  trifling  habit  of  painting  all  around  the  spiders 
he  met  (on  the  crazy  supposition  that  touching  them 
would  make  trouble  with  Joe)  had  somewhat  decreased 
the  value  of  the  little  toil  he  brought  himself  to  endure ; 
and  his  daughter,  who  begged,  stole,  or  starved,  as  it  hap 
pened,  felt  no  loss  as  the  result  of  his  lapse  from  duty. 
He  now  went  straight  to  Peace,  and  tried  to  stand  up 
right  and  look  at  her. 

"  Don't  mind  him,"  observed  Doppy,  as  the  lady 
shrank  away.  "  There's  a  window  broke  where  he  works, 
an'  he's  a  cold  in  his  eyes,  so  he  can't  see  straight." 

"  Hev  you  observed  my  girl  anywheres  ?  "  demanded 
he,  fiercely. 

"  There,  lay  down  a  bit,"  interfered  their  hostess  again, 
in  a  soothing  voice,  pointing  to  an  old  lounge  as  she 
spoke ;  "  she's  comin'  directly." 


172  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  I'll  smash  her,"  remarked  he,  as  he  pitched  toward 
it.  "  She  hain't  taken  care  of  me.  Here  I've  ben 
drunk  all  day,  an'  she  hain't  come  near.  You  see  she's 
drunk  all  the  time,  and  I'm  (hie)  never  sober  (hie). 
She'd  orter  have  more  oversight  on  me  'n  she  does.  I'll 
wallop  her.  I'll — "  he  had  reached  his  couch  by  this 
time,  and  whiskey  got  too  much  the  upper  hand  for 
speech. 

"  Mary  McCross,"  said  Peace,  in  angry  dignity,  "  I 
think  it's  positively  unladylike  to  stay  here  a  second 
longer." 

"  Just  wait  a  little,"  pleaded  her  friend,  who  was  ac 
customed  to  such  doings,  and  had  again  become  busy  at 
the  sewing.  "  If  I  baste  in  this  sleeve,  she  can  finish  it 
for  Sunday ;  he  isn't  going  to  wake  up." 

While  Peace  was  gasping  in  astonishment  at  her  cool 
ness,  Joe,  Christie  Malone,  and  Amos  returned  from  a 
"  pickin'  "  expedition  to  divide  the  spoil. 

"  By  Jingo  Pelters,"  said  Master  Daley,  holding  up  a 
broken  champagne  bottle,  "  that  Miss  Williams  is  the  gol 
darnedest  mean  woman  I  iver  see;  jest  think  of  askin' 
pay  for  a  spilt  bottle  like  that,  an'  three  chicken-bones  ! 
Doppy,  how's  your  burrd  ?  " 

She  smilingly  produced  a  miserable  canary  in  a  cracked 
tea-pot.  "  He  don't  sing  'ary  a  note.  I  believe  it's  the 
sades  you  giv'  him." 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Peace,  examining  the  poor  thing, 
which  had  almost  lost  every  feather,  and  peeped  feebly. 
"  How  could  he  in  the  dark  ?  I  should  think  he'd  have 
sore  eyes." 

Doppy  looked  miserable.  "  It's  a  bootiful  burrd,"  said 
she,  "  an  I  vally  it  as  the  gift  o'  frens,  but  I  hain't  no- 
wheres  else  to  put  it." 

"  Thrue   fur   ye  !  "  said   Amos   proudly.     "  I  sawed 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  173 

wood  the  hull  day  at  Square  Hitchcock's  fur  him.  The 
crookedest  sticks  them  wos !  But  1  didn't  make  no  ac 
count  of  it,  fur  the  pleasure  ov  givin'  him  to  Doppy. 
'  Au'  here's  the  singer  that'll  take  the  top  off  Syllabub,' 
sez  Miss  Euphemy,  an'  me  carryiu'  him  off." 

The  girls  exchanged  glances.  They  had  heard  Adeliza 
regretting  only  the  day  before,  that  she  hadn't  raised  a 
song-bird  in  the  whole  nest.  Something  about  defraud 
ing  the  laborer  of  his  hire  crossed  Peace's  mind,  as  she 
caught  a  happy  thought. 

"  You  bring  him,  tea-pot  and  all,  up  to  Miss  McCross 
this  afternoon,  and  I'll  put  him  in  a  cage.  I'll  engage 
he'll  whistle  when  he  comes  home." 

Mollie  smiled  gratefully,  fathoming  the  generous  in 
tent  ;  but  the  expression  of  dissatisfaction  with  which  she 
had  been  watching  Joe  and  Christie  increased  tenfold,  as 
their  relations  to  each  other  grew  more  obvious.  They 
seemed  on  terms  of  greatest  intimacy.  She  snatched  a 
coil  of  rope  from  his  pile  :  he  took  her  about  the  waist, 
and  twisted  it  from  her  hand.  She  kicked  him.  He 
stood  back,  and  struck  her  a  violent  blow. 

"  For  shame  !  "  cried  Mollie,  indignantly,  "  to  touch  a 
woman !  " 

"  She's  my  wife,  or  go  in'  to  be,  an'  I've  a  right  to  lick 
her  if  I  like,"  said  he,  in  his  sullen  accent ;  then  under 
Mollie's  compelling  power,  "You  are  my  girl,  Joe?  "  in 
half  apology. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  apparently  impassible. 

Doppy,  however,  did  not  share  in  her  apathy.  "  Ef  so 
be's  yees  can't  be  dacent,  in  a  respectable "  (Doppy 
dwelt  on  the  long  word  with  deliberation) — "  respectable 
house,  ye  may  lave  straight,  Christie  Malone.  I  keep 
a  quite  place — thank  the  saints."  She  snatched  the 
poker,  and,  big  boy  as  he  was,  Master  Malone  departed 


174  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

without  ceremony.  Mollie  followed  him  out.  She  had 
been  waiting,  partly  in  hope  of  seeing  him.  He  was  a 
tall,  white-faced  fellow,  with  watery  red  eyes,  a  shock  of 
fiery  hair,  and  a  mouth  like  a  potato-hole.  The  only 
thing  that  marked  him  among  the  degenerate  types  of 
humanity  bred  by  destitution,  was  his  foot — so  hand 
somely  arched,  small,  and  slender  ;  sole  heritage  of  gentle 
blood  for  generations  back.  He  was  not  strong  appar 
ently,  and  turned  sixteen. 

"  Have  you  any  work,  Christie  ?  " 

He  stood  with  his  head  down,  kicking  the  door-step, 
and  shook  his  shoulders. 

"  What  made  you  leave  the  Gonecussets  ?  " 

"  I  ain't  agoin'  to  kill  myself  workin'  for  any  man." 

The  teacher  sighed.  It  was  up-hill  toil.  She  had 
looked  after  him  patiently,  begged  him  places,  clothed, 
not  him  alone,  but  his  family  ;  not  for  a  few  months,  but 
two  long  years.  She  had  tried  to  teach  him  to  read, 
prayed  about  him  in  private,  exhorted  him  in  public, 
and  this  was  the  result !  He  had  been  constantly  in  her 
class  since  the  memorable  disturbance,  when  she  en 
forced  order ;  but  his  tricks,  lies,  rudeness,  sly  whispers 
to  a  blushing  neighbor,  tried  her  very  soul. 

"  Why  do  you  come  here  ?  "  she  cried  once,  desperately. 

"  To  set  where  its  warm,"  retorted  he. 

To  day  the  incubus  weighed  more  heavily  than  usual. 
She  let  him  slip  sullenly  away,  and  Peace  lost  no  time  in 
joining  her,  really  thankful  to  have  got  out  in  safety. 
Miss  Pelican  was  not  properly  constituted  for  a  Bible 
reader. 

"  That  boy  is  a  load  of  lead  to  my  soul,"  said  Mollie, 
as  if  announcing  a  recent  conclusion. 

"  His  head  is  curiously  shaped,"  rejoined  Peace  ;  "  it 
slopes  right  to  a  point  on  top,  and  has  no  back  at  all." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLES.  175 

The  home  missionary  looked  worried.  She  remem 
bered  hearing  a  former  instructor  assert  that  a  man  all 
face,  and  nothing  behind  it,  couldn't  make  a  decent 
member  of  society.  Thenceforth  her  eyes  rested  on  the 
lad  with  an  uneasy,  fascinated  glance.  Was  it  possible  to 
save  a  boy  with  no  back  to  his  head  ?  She  didn't  de 
spair.  Said  Peace  in  the  most  serious  voice  possible,  "  I 
often  call  to  mind  the  baby's  epitaph : 

"  '  When  Gabriel's  trump  shall  wake  the  dead, 
And  souls  to  bodies  jine, 
Too  many  there  will  wish  their  lives 
Had  been  as  short  as  thine.'  " 

"  My  dear,"  said  Mollie,  having  as  usual  shelved  both 
remark  and  quotation  for  future  thought,  "  I  find  great 
comfort  in  that  verse  touching  Christ's  triumphant 
entry." 

Peace  looked  up  now  in  honest  sobriety,  to  hear  the 
Scripture  :  "  And  thy  King  came  into  Jerusalem,  riding 
on  a  wild  ass's  colt  ! " 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

"  To  one  she  gave  porridge, 
To  another  gave  bread." 

| HE  sitting-room  at  Fir  Covert  was  large  and 
circled  with  oak,  and  the  carpet  was  brown — all 
the  way  from  yellowish  to  chestnut.  When  I 
looked  in,  the  heavy,  dun  curtains  were  uulooped,  for  the 
sun  had  long  since  gone  to  bed,  and  with  him  retired 


176  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

the  top-knotted  fowls,  scolding  wrens,  and  melancholy 
robins,  who  roamed  daily  about  the  place.  The  late  frost, 
which  had  surprised  them,  brought  out  the  old  andirons, 
and  set  them  holding  a  stick  or  two  of  hard  maple.  The 
wood  hissed  and  snapped  in  the  red-throated  chimney, 
and  the  bright  flame  danced  fitfully,  making  gay  the 
dark  frames  of  the  water-colors  Mollie  had  done  when  a 
little  maid,  and  falling  with  weird  brilliance  upon  a  great 
copy  of  the  Court  of  Death  that  hung  opposite  the  fire 
place. 

Beside  the  hearth  lay  a  pair  of  slippers,  whose  seven 
ugly  monkeys  stood  out  distinct  against  a  scarlet  ground 
work.  On  the  dun-rep  arm-chair,  wheeled  close  to  the 
fire,  hung  the  cashmere  dressing- gown,  with  its  long  tas 
sels.  Poppy  swung  from  her  silver  perch,  and  Mollie 
sat  on  the  floor,  watching  alternately  the  red  shadows 
playing  over  the  wall,  and  listening  for  the  well-known 
step  on  the  flagged  walk,  thinking  the  while  such  maid 
enly  thoughts  as  properly  lodge  in  comely  brown  heads 
that  stand  erect,  like  brave  annunciation  lilies  on  the 
stem. 

At  last  he  came  for  whom  all  waited.  The  gate  swung 
with  its  customary  squeak.  "  Papa  !  "  cried  Mollie,  lift 
ing  her  cheek  from  the  chair-cushion  as  the  door  un 
closed,  and  running  to  meet  him.  Now  the  old  gentle 
man  was  hurried  forward  to  the  blaze,  bereft  of  his 
coat  and  hat  and  boots,  and  invested  in  the  gorgeous 
dressing-gown  and  slippers.  Next,  Mollie  spirited  away 
the  cast-otf  garments,  then  came  back  and  took  his  gray 
head  in  her  hands,  looking  into  his  eyes,  and  kissed  his 
withei-ed  cheek.  After  this  she  sat  down  contentedly  on 
the  cushion  by  his  knee.  The  old  man  smiled  a  com 
forted  smile,  and  seemed  to  grow  a  little  plumper,  a  little 
younger,  a  little  less  careworn,  just  as  he  always  did 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  177 

when  the  familiar  dialogue  was  performed,  for  it  was  a 
very  old  scene,  though  it  never  seemed  old  to  these 
two. 

"  Where's  your  mother  ?  "  said  the  Deacon,  patting 
Mollie's  soft  hair,  and  stretching  his  black-stockinged 
feet  to  the  fire. 

"  Gone  to  mother's  meeting,  and  we'll  have  tea  alone," 
answered  she,  gayly.  "  She  is  to  sup  with  Mrs.  Hitch 
cock.  Won't  we  have  a  nice  time  ordering  our  meal ! 
What  shall  we  cook  for  you  ?  " 

"  I'll  take  a  pair  of  parrot's  tongues,"  said  this  easily 
suited  individual,  after  considering  awhile. 

"  No  tongue  to  spare,"  retorted  Mollie,  with  due 
gravity. 

"  Then  let  it  be  bear's  feet,  fried,"  he  went  on,  in  the 
same  tone. 

"  No,"  said  she,  pinching  the  loose  skin  at  the  back  of 
his  small,  wrinkled  hand  (the  Deacon  was  still  proud  of 
it,  though  it  began  to  earn  its  living  fifty — sixty — years 
ago).  "I  haven't  killed  the  animal  I've  got;  he's  too 
lean.  Hadn't  we  better  have  Welsh  rarebit  ?  " 

"  I  guess  so,  little  girl,"  smiling  into  her  loving  eyes. 
He  always  called  her  this  when  they  were  very  happy  to 
gether.  She  was  his  pride,  his  sole  delight.  He  watched 
her  as  she  rose  to  give  the  order  in  her  dignified,  maidenly 
way,  and  his  heart  grew  lighter  when  a  positive  foot-tap 
heralded  her  return. 

So  they  had  the  Welsh  rarebit,  and  Mollie  poured  tea 
from  a  quaint  Japanese  teapot,  and  fed  her  father  with 
muffins  served  on  the  choicest  illuminated  plates. 

The  cakes  despatched,  they  told  each  other's  fortunes 
in  the  bottom  of  the  teacups. 

Mollie  twisted  hers  four  times  on  the  saucer  to  give 
the  tears  chance  to  run  out ;  and  her  father  found  therein 


178  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

beaux  and  diamonds,  not  to  mention  a  horse  and  buggy. 
As  a  reward,  she  discovered  him  addressing  a  vast  con 
course  of  people,  which  she  knew  must  be  the  eleven 
o'clock  prayer-meeting,  but  he  felt  sure  was  an  audience 
to  his  Fourth  of  July  speech. 

After  this  was  decided,  they  went  back  to  the  parlor, 
and  she  dropped  into  her  old  place  at  his  feet.  They 
talked  a  long  time  about  business  and  gossip.  If  Mr. 
ISTickson  had  been  heard  from ;  if  Dr.  Perfect's  last  ser 
mon  was  really  to  be  printed  for  circulation ;  if  Mrs. 
Perfect  had  prayed  the  crippled  darkey  to  full  use  of  her 
limbs,  as  had  been  hinted. 

These  questions  being  settled,  she  became  absently 
thoughtful,  and  fell  to  playing  with  his  fingers.  "  Little 
Pete,  Peter  Paie,  Eue  Whistle,  Whistle  Dossel,  Gobble- 
gobble-gobble."  She  told  them  all  one  by  one,  shaking 
each  absently,  and  then  began  again.  "  Father,"  said 
she,  with  an  effort,  after  he  had  snatched  her  wandering 
hand  and  prisoned  it  in  his  own,  "  do  you  know  any 
thing  of  Louis  ?  " 

A  change  came  over  Deacon  McCross.  He  ceased  to 
be  the  loving  parent,  sunning  himself  in  his  daughter's 
affection.  The  dun  arm-chair  held  a  spare,  old  man, 
with  a  mixture  of  fear  and  remorse  in  his  weazened  fea 
tures.  It  was  only  a  moment;  the  expression  passed 
away  as  he  answered,  "  Nothing,  daughter."  Mollie 
heaved  a  stifled  sigh,  and  stared  hard  into  the  burning 
coals. 

He  was  miserable,  seeing  her  suffer,  and  cast  about  for 
some  means  to  comfort  her.  He  only  knew  one  way — 
to  give  her  something.  "  Mollie,"  said  he,  hesitatingly, 
"  suppose  I  deed  you  the  '  Solomon  Kodgers '  Tavern  ? 
Would  it  please  you  ?  You've  often  asked  for  it."  She 
knew  the  motive  that  prompted  the  gift.  Her  poor, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  179 

weak,  loving  father  !  She  was  very  sorry  for  him,  and 
so  made  much  of  the  matter,  and  set  herself  to  chase  away 
his  trouble. 

She  perched  on  his  knee — very  lightly,  because  the 
time  was  near  when  the  grasshopper  would  be  a  burden 
to  those  once  stalwart  limbs — and  hugged  and  kissed  him, 
and  tickled  his  cheeks  to  make  dimples.  As  he  still 
looked  sober,  she  snatched  a  newspaper,  and  proposed  to 
burn  it  to  see  who  would  marry  first.  He  smiled  and 
agreed ;  so  she  got  down  before  the  fire,  and  lighting  its 
severed  leaves  (the  "  Millville  Universe"  was  not  a  large 
sheet),  laughingly  blew  her  own  fragment  to  make  it 
blaze.  "  See,  cruel  papa,"  quoth  she  as  the  last  spark 
died  from  off  his  blackened  fortune,  "  you  will  be  out  of 
the  market  first.  But  settle  your  mind  to  one  thing — 
I  shall  claw  my  step-mother." 

Doubtless  the  Deacon  knew  too  much  about  claws  and 
clauses,  to  be  charmed  at  the  prospect ;  so  she  felt  it  plain 
duty  to  play  "  Pease  Porridge  Hot  "  with  him.  Before 
the  game  was  done  her  brown  hair  rippled  away  over  her 
shoulders,  a  mass  of  wondrous  beauty,  her  cheeks  red 
dened  into  a  soft  blush,  and  her  firm,  supple  fingers 
burned  with  their  fairly  earned  punishment. 

In  the  midst  of  this,  the  door  opened,  and  Mr.  Hay- 
thorne  walked  in.  Then  Mollie  arose  from  her  ottoman, 
brought  him  another  arm-chair,  poked  the  embers,  and, 
having  added  a  stick  or  two  of  maple,  took  her  seat 
opposite,  just  where  the  flicker  would  play  xipon  her 
serene  face. 

"  I  have  been  reading  the  '  Spectator,' "  said  he,  set 
tling  himself  for  a  chat,  and  warming  his  white  hands  at 
the  blaze.  "  The  weather  is  unseasonable — a  frost  last 
night,  and  now  heavy  rain." 

"We  are  always  glad  to  give  the  hearth-cricket  chance 


180  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  chirp,"  answered  she,  punching  a  stick  to  make  the 
sparks  go  up  chimney.  "  What  did  you  find  in  the 
'  wicked  novel-book,'  as  mother  would  call  it :  '  man  is 
born  to  trouble  as  the  sparks  fly  upward '  ?  " 

"  Not  precisely.  '  The  division  of  troubles  was  the 
theme  of  my  meditation.  I  read  from  three  to  five,  his 
tory  or  classic  literature ;  one  can  never  know  enough  of 
either." 

The  young  girl  was  looking  toward  him,  but  she  saw 
not  his  handsome,  cui-ly  auburn  head  and  flowing  beard, 
nor  yet  his  hazel  eyes,  that  glanced  so  full  of  fire  to  hers. 
She  was  watching  in  thought  a  dearer  face,  with  eyes  of 
purer,  softer  light,  and  a  lip  whose  remembered  curve 
was  scarce  darkened  by  the  down  of  manhood.  If  the 
recollection  could  not  now  come  free  of  anxious  pain,  it 
was  a  dear  pang,  loved  for  whose  sake  she  bore  it. 

"  Things  in  this  life  are  equal,"  said  she,  as  if  she 
wished  to  believe  it.  "  There's  a  balm  for  every  wound, 
and,"  after  a  pause,  tf  every  honey-bee  carries  a  sting." 

"  Heine  says,  there  are  sweet  peas  for  all.  That  is  a 
better  song  than  one  more  orthodox  the  little  German 
maid  sang  with  false  voice  but  true  feeling,  as  he  re 
lates." 

"  In  that  case,  '  full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  un 
seen,'  "  said  Mollie  sadly.  The  troubles  of  this  world 
compassed  the  poor  child  to-night.  "  He  would  have  said 
more  truly,  thus  :  '  thistles  and  night-shade  grow  n  every 
man's  garden.  If  he  pull  the  night-shade  first,  he  is 
happy.' " 

Her  tone,  very  hard  for  Mollie,  so  startled  the  gentle 
man  that  he  dropped  the  tongs  wherewith  he  was  build 
ing  up  a  castle  of  red  coals  behind  the  forestick. 

The  clang  awoke  the  Deacon,  who  always  dozed  com 
fortably  off  when  Mollie  talked  literature,  and  Poppy 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  181 

withdrew  her  head  from  her  downy  wing,  blinked  sleepily 
at  the  trio,  and  failed  not  to  murmur  ere  she  closed  her 
brilliant  eyes,  "  Dear  Louis,  dear  Mollie,  pchoo  ;  "  a  sen 
tence  which  continued  to  make  a  disagreeable  impression 
on  the  guest's  mind. 

He  fell  to  talking  of  Europe ;  how  the  German  maid 
ens  waltz  and  drink  Rhine  wine,  and  Mollie  seemed  to 
him  fairer  than  any  German  maid.  Then  he  told  of  his 
beloved  Goethe,  of  his  long  bachelorhood,  how  he 
thought  to  wed  a  lovely  young  girl,  but  was  so  frightened 
by  the  cradles  his  mother  rummaged  from  the  garret,  that 
he  broke  the  engagement. 

Mollie  lifted  her  clear,  fathomless  blue  eyes  to  his  face. 
"  It  would  be  my  dearest  wish  to  have  a  merry,  noble  boy 
to  love,  caress,  and  bring  up  into  honorable  manhood." 
She  thought  the  while,  with  a  sigh,  how  far  off  seemed  the 
blossoming  of  her  fullest  wife-love. 

But  Mr.  Haythorne  rambled  on,  talking  of  Coriolanus 
and  Virgilia,  Faust  and  Marguerite,  and  patient,  lovely 
Undine,  and  every  noble  type  of  woman  seemed  to  find  its 
breathing-life  in  the  young  girl  sitting  so  womanly  mod 
est  beyond  the  blazing  maple-sticks.  But  Mollie's  heart 
flew  with  every  picture  of  devotion  to  her  absent  lover, 
and  panted  to  be  all  this  and  more  to  him. 


182  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

"  Ride  a  Jack  horse 
To  Banbury  Cross." 

lilDSUMMER  eve  fell  warm  and  breathless.  The 
lazy  stars  blinked  through  the  thick  ether,  and 
the  moon  put  on  her  parti-colored  garment,  and 
sailed  quietly  through  the  cloud-banded  heavens.  The 
trees  swayed  sleepily  to  and  fro,  as  middle-aged  chaperons 
nod  at  the  eleventh  hour  of  a  grand  ball.  At  sunset  the 
very  cat-birds  sang  heartlessly.  In  fact,  the  only  creat 
ures  which  managed  to  brave  the  leaden  heat  were  a 
chorus  of  frogs  and  cicadse  that  kept  up  their  Handel  and 
Haydn  Society  till  long  after  humanity  was  making  spu 
rious  imitations  in  bed. 

If  fairies  were  abroad,  they  had  chosen  a  bad  time 
for  their  revels.  I  wish  I  could  have  found  them  and 
begged  a  sleep-philter.  Every  evening  Mollie's  light 
stole  through  the  dusky  evergreens,  till  the  last  strag 
gling  footstep  died  into  stillness ;  then  she  breathed 
a  weary  sigh ;  she  hoped  her  lover's  truant  feet  had 
brought  him  home. 

When  the  labors  of  life  were  appointed,  man  stepped 
up  first,  and  on  him  was  laid  to  plan,  to  work,  to  take 
the  headship  of  the  family ;  and  he  went  away,  sup 
posing  he  bore  the  whole  burden.  After  him  came 
woman,  willing  to  share  the  misfortunes  of  her  race ;  to 
whom  the  angel  said  pityingly,  "  The  man,  thy  hus 
band,  fancies  he  carries  all  the  curse :  he  has  only  left  for 
thee,  powerless  to  cope  with  the  rough  toils  of  life,  to 
weep  his  failures  unavailingly  and  in  silence." 

Careless  of  the  sanctities  of  the  night,  you  might  have 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  183 

noticed  a  quartette  stealing  through  the  Millville  streets 
about  eleven  o'clock,  Mrs.  Williams's  well-filled  garden 
being  the  goal.  Amos,  like  a  famous  scion  of  his  pro 
fession,  carried  the  bag, — a  large  one,  that  went  with  a 
string, — and  they  all  walked  softly  as  if  afraid  of  waking 
such  echoes  as  still  lingered  amid  the  flat  respectability 
of  this  Gonecusset's  Eden. 

Silently  the  boys  dropped  over  the  sharp-nailed  fence 
wherewith  the  woman  sought  to  shut  out  Syllabub. 

Cucumbers  mildly  growing  by  the  pale  moonlight,  warty 
squashes,  and  odoriferous  onions,  returned  to  earth  to 
ripen,  all  passed  their  examination,  to  be  pronounced 
too  young. 

But  there  were  lettuces  and  seed-onions  and  early 
raspberries  in  plenty,  that  found  community  of  expe 
rience  in  the  wide-mouthed  sack. 

"  Ain't  they  whoppers  !  "  said  Hugh  from  the  pea- 
vines,  when  the  pressure  of  business  was  somewhat 
abated. 

"  Hush !  "  returned  Amos,  revelling  in  a  bed  of  late 
strawberries.  "  I  tought  I  seed  a  light  some'rs." 

"  Boy  alive !  "  returned  Aleck  with  a  contemptuous 
sniff,  "  she  never  'luminated  when  Grant  was  'lected,  an' 
she  ain't  likely  to  use  up  kerrycene  for  such  'umble  per- 
fessionals  as  we,  mean  old  granny  !  " 

"  We've  got  enough  for  here,"  said  Hugh,  anxious  to 
be  on  the  safe  side.  "  Let's  go  some'rs  else." 

"  Oh  !  "  cried  Aleck  in  anguish.  "  I  be  caught,  sure's 
grief  !  "  Even  so.  Paysou's  steel  trap,  baited  for  Gracie 
Jenkins'  rabbits,  had  snared  bigger  game.  With  much 
subdued  groaning,  the  member  was  released,  and  Amos 
threw  the  bag  over  his  shoulders  preparatory  to  depart 
ure,  when  Hugh  cried  "  Hist !  "  in  a  frightened  tone, 
and  immediately  a  dull  thud  was  heard  in  the  distance. 


184  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  Run,  fellers,  she's  comin' !  "  said  Christie  hurriedly. 

"  Pooh!  "  returned  Aleck,  "  she's  jest  ben  lickin'  the 
young  ones.  Golly !  how  she  did  lay  it  on !  They 
squalled  too  loud  fur  her  to  be  hearin'  ov  us." 

"  But  I  noticed  a  noise  like  the  poundin'  I  see  Miss 
Petingil  givin'  her  does  in  a  barr'l,"  whispered  Hugh. 

"Most  likely  it's  the  ghost  of  all  them  lickin's  you've 
missed,"  returned  Christie,  whose  notion  of  Payson's 
late  sufferings  was  for  some  reason  quite  vivid. 

"  Give  us  a  rest  now,"  put  in  Aleck.  "  Didn't  I 
hear  Miss  McCross  explainin'  how  nothin'  was  iver  lost : 
so  all  them  are  laid  up  for  ye  yet.  By  the  same  token, 
ye'll  get  'em  soon,  for  you're  growin'  so  tall  they  can't 
wait  much  longer." 

"  I'll  pass  that,"  whispered  Hugh  ruefully ;  but  he 
had  scarcely  said  it  when  the  same  ominous  sound  smote 
their  ears. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ?  "  said  Amos,  promptly  circum 
venting  an  attempt,  of  Hugh's  to  run  away. 

"  Let's  go  !  Where  does  it  come  from  ?  This  way — 
no,  that!  Dear,  by  goll,  it's  all  over  !  "  quoth  the  latter, 
sitting  down  in  a  miserable  heap  on  the  ground. 

Thud  !  thud  !  came  the  remorseless  monitor.  They 
looked  into  each  other's  faces  in  horror. 

"  It's  a  Banshee  to  warn  us  of  death  !  "  cried  Aleck  in 
a  choked  voice.  "  We've  one  in  my  family.  See,  there 
he  stands !  He  allus  appears  afore  any  on  us  is  took." 

They  all  looked  where  he  pointed.  There,  amid  the 
long  shadows  cast  by  the  fruit-trees  and  the  chequered 
moonlight  sifting  through  the  trellised  grape-vines, 
geained  a  white  figure — erect,  motionless,  with  averted 
face. 

"  Deuce  take  your  Banshee !  "  said  Hugh,  half  dead 
with  fright,  "it's  a  Bugaboo  goin'  to  carry  us  off  for 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  185 

stealin'.  He  stamps  three  times,  an'  thin  switches  his 
tail  an'  moves  his  horns  an' — " 

"  An'  if  so  he's  you  ain't  good,  you  git  a  darned 
lickin',"  interrupted  Amos.  "  I  heerd  mother  doin'  that 
this  mornin'  to  my  little  sister.  I  don't  believe  a  word 
on't.  It's  a  Banshee,  an'  you're  goin'  to  die,  Aleck. 
Golly,  I'm  glad  it  ain't  me  !  " 

"  That's  so  !  Do  run,  or  I'll  have  to  lose  a  mornin's 
work  by  your  funeral,"  said  Christie,  trying  to  laugh. 

"  You  must  be  smart.  I'll  bet  it's  the  old  woman," 
cried  the  doomed  individual  uneasily.  "  Any  way,  I'll 
have  my  share  in  the  truck  to-night."  But,  in  spite  of 
the  brave  ending,  his  teeth  chattered,  and  the  awful 
figure  with  upraised  hand  pointed  to  the  miserable  lads, 
inexorable  as  fate. 

"  Amos,  do  go  an'  see  if  it's  anybody,"  gasped  Aleck. 
"  'Tain't  nowise  likely  he  wants  anything  o'  you." 

"  Go  yourself,"  retorted  the  person  addressed,  indignant 
at  the  suggestion.  "  I'd  be  ashamed  to  be  afeard  of  my 
own  relations." 

But  Aleck  shook  his  head.  The  moon  went  behind  a 
cloud  ;  the  wind  stirred  the  trees  ;  the  terrible  premoni- 
tor  of  the  ghost  sounded  at  uncertain  intervals,  and  still 
the  pale  figure  moved  not. 

"  I'll  be  darned  if  I  stand  this  any  longer !  "  cried 
Christie.  et  Move  up  to  your  Banshee,  or  I'll  thrash 
you  well." 

"  An'  I'll  help,"  said  Hugh,  advancing  with  the  jig- 
step  of  habit,  curiously  at  war  with  the  feelings  of  cow 
ardly  fright. 

"  An'  so'll  I,"  chimed  in  Amos,  doubling  up  his  fists, 
preparatory. 

Thus  urged,  the  unhappy  lad  stole  slowly  toward  the 
gleaming  horror,  till  he  suddenly  uttered  a  shriek,  and 


186  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

dropped  to  the  earth.  "  O  boys  !  I'm  kilt.  I'll  never 
steal  agin,  long  as  I  live  !  " 

Christie  picked  him  up.  "  What  are  ye  hollerin'  about, 
ye  fool  ?  Were  ye  gassin'  us  the  hull  time,  that  the 
fallin'  ov  a  few  apples  an'  a  couple  ov  towels  on  the 
bushes  should  set  ye  to  takin'  on  so  ?  Git  up,  or  I'll 
lick  ye." 

"  Ain't  I  killed  ? "  asked  Aleck,  opening  his  eyes. 
"  Something  hit  me  on  the  snout  worse'n  I  was  ever  hit 
afore." 

"  Don't  ye  know  an  apple  when  ye  feel  it,  ye  jackass  ?  " 
said  Hugh,  sending  a  half-grown  early  over  the  fence 
with  a  vicious  kick.  "Now  you've  raised  the  old 
woman." 

Sure  enough,  the  stoufc  figure  of  Mrs.  Williams  ap 
peared  from  the  kitchen  doorway,  still  habited  in  her 
night-cap,  and  in  her  late  husband's  old  boots,  which  she 
was  wearing  out  to  save  shoe-leather.  Long  before  her 
tallow  dip  had  explored  the  intervening  space,  the  boys 
had  safely  climbed  the  fence.  "  I  swan  dumb,"  quoth 
she,  stumbling  over  the  spriing  trap,  "  here's  the  track 
of  the  nasty  Irish.  Got  hurt !  I'm  glad  on't ;  "  and  she 
forthwith  retired  to  her  matronly  repose. 

The  boys  had  run  full  half  a  mile,  when  their  fears 
abated  enough  to  permit  a  halt. 

"  It'll  niver  do  to  go  into  Millville  at  once,"  said 
Christie,  with  his  customary  sly  caution.  This  was  the 
kind  of  a  boy  who  will  talk  to  you  about  religion,  with 
his  eyes  earnestly  directed  to  yours,  hungry  longing 
filling  them,  and  be  holding  a  second  conversation  in 
deaf  and  dumb  language  about  a  gambling  row  that  very 
moment.  "  You  give  me  an'  Aleck  the  bag,"  continued  he, 
"  and  we'll  hurry  home,  while  you  go  round  t'other  way." 

"Not    for   Joe,"    retorted    Hugh    instantly.       "I'm 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  187 

intendiii'  to  see  the  dividin'  of  them  fruits.  Aleck  can 
walk  along  wid  Amos." 

"  Suit  yerself,"  rejoined  Christie,  "  only  make  haste. 
It's  goin'  on  twelve  now." 

Five  minutes  afterward  Amos  and  Aleck  reached  the 
stone  wall  that  surrounds  Bradshaw's  meadows. 

"  Hurry,  an'  git  over,"  whispered  Mr.  Heffron,  who 
had  his  own  reasons  for  distrusting  young  Malone. 
"  We'll  cut  through  the  lots  while  they're  partin'  the  stuff, 
or  we  shan't  git  nun." 

Amos  mounted  the  stones  slowly,  for  the  wall  was  of 
good  height,  and  protected,  moreover,  by  a  superstructure 
of  rails. 

'*  Jump  !  jump  !  "  cried  Aleck,  with  a  poke  ;  whereupon 
our  hero  gave  a  spring. 

"  Ugh  !  what's  this  !  O  Aleck !  what  am  I  on  ? 
The  divil's  got  me  this  time,  sure." 

"  I'll  bet  he  has,"  replied  that  still  ruffled  ghost-seer, 
glad  the  incredulous  Amos  was  likewise  in  grief.  "  You'd 
better  say  your  prayers.  He's  jest  spreadin'  his  wings  to 
take  you  to  the  bad  place.  Such  horns  as  he's  got !  " 

Amos,  looking  before  him,  sure  enough  saw  two  im 
mense  things  erecting  themselves  as  his  dreadful  bearer 
rose  from  the  ground. 

"  Hail  Mary,  full  of  grace  !  Do  let  me  come  down,  Mr. 
Devil,  please  !  "  he  cried  imploringly,  not  daring  to  move 
a  muscle.  "  Speak  !  speak  !  only  speak." 

The  satanic  emissary,  true  to  his  instinct,  laid  back  his 
pseudo  horns,  raised  his  tail,  and,  planting  his  forefeet 
forward,  gave  vent  to  a  series  of  he-haws  that  echoed 
strangely  through  the  still  night. 

"  Oh !  do  speak  English,  Mr.  Devil ! "  shrieked  the 
unhappy  rider,  too  thoroughly  frightened  to  recognize 
his  unsought  steed ;  while  Aleck,  remembering  Pauline 


188  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Bradshaw's    donkeys,  burst   into    a   peal    of  discordant 
laughter. 

The  noise  awoke  Daisy,  who  responded  to  her  mate's 
call  from  the  other  side  of  the  field,  and  Dandy  took  to 
his  heels,  Amos  still  clinging  to  his  seat,  in  bolt  upright, 
rigid  terror,  and  muttering  alternate  petitions  to  the 
saints  and  Diabolus.  Behind  him  streamed  his  immense 
coat-tails ;  before  him  lay  unnumbered  horrors,  and  the 
night  air  bore  the  sound  of  Aleck's  retreating  footsteps, 
fainter  and  fainter  in  the  distance. 

"  If  ever  I'm  caught  in  that  ere  line  agin,  I  hope,  yis, 
I  hope  I'll  jump  onter  them  nasty  beasts,  same  as  last 
night,"  said  Amos,  with  awful  solemnity,  when  he  had 
finished  confiding  his  woes  to  little  Doppy. 

"  Airnest  ?  "  inquired  she,  with  the  brevity  of  doubt. 

"  Airnest,"  responded  he,  laying  his  stubby  fingers 
together  in  heartfelt  devotion,  and  rolling  up  his  spark 
ling  eyes  till  only  the  whites  were  perceptible. 

"  Now,  that's  rale  good,"  said  the  confessoress  heartily. 
"  I  hope  I  may  get  licked  ef  I  don't  do  the  same.  Miss 
McCross  has  fcmnd  me  work  in  the  mill,  an'  I'm  to  go 
every  week  to  her  house  to  learn  to  sew  n'  read,  n'  be 
a  lady  same's  her." 

"  How  hunki !  "  commended  the  devoted  Mr.  Daily, 
without  a  shadow  of  misgiving  as  to  the  result.  Then 
imagination  retraced  its  steps  through  the  interval. 
"Ain't  you  goin'  to  be  at  home,  or  pickin'  no  more?" 
queried  he,  doleful  at  the  prospect. 

"  Jess  so,"  returned  she,  in  a  dignified  tone,  "  an' 
you'd  best  do  the  same,  n'  quit  wastin'  yer  time,  n' 
makin'  a  lazy  lummox  of  yersel'  same  as  ye  be." 

"  You're  awful  hard  on  a  feller.  I  don't  like  to  work 
no  how,"  said  Amos  meekly. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  189 

"  Wimmin  takes  to  it,  I  s'pose !  "  retorted  Doppy,  in 
sarcasm.  "  Learn  a  lesson  from  me  as  has  kept  her 
house  clean,  an'  washed  her  cloes  all  summer." 

"  If  you  say  so,  I  will,"  he  assented,  in  rueful  awe  of 
her  energy.  "  What  a  tiger  you  are  !  Vedder'll  find  me 
a  job,  'cause  he  said  he  would." 

"  Then  don't  be  settin'  lookin'  at  yer  fingers,"  ex 
claimed  the  active  damsel,  beginning  to  put  chairs  and 
tables  in  forbidding  groups,  and  glancing  at  a  scrub- 
brush  with  portentous  meaning. 

Amos  accordingly  saw  no  alternative,  and  sallied 
forth  to  clinch  resolution. 

"  That's  the  woman  it  takes  to  bring  me  to  terms," 
was  his  admiring  soliloquy  as  he  strode  manfully  toward 
Millville. 

"  There,"  said  Doppy,  closing  the  door  on  him,  and 
feeling  the  bristles  of  the  scouring  implement  in  a  bustle 
of  pleasure.  "  I  knew  I  could  make  him !  He's  the 
best-meaning  chap  in  Syllabub,  and  the  darlin'est !  " 


CHAPTEE  XY. 

''  Three  wise  men  of  Gotham 
Went  to  sea  in  a  bowl ; 
If  the  bowl  had  been  stronger — " 

PUT  this  down  because  of  its  extreme  perti 
nence.  Only  the  wisest  take  as  substantial  a 
JiSil  ship  as  that  named.  Even  Diogenes  had  no 
thing  better  than  a  wash-tub.  In  the  sea  of  life  one 
meets  but  leaky  craft :  broken  beer-barrels,  dismantled 


190  'SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

paint-boxes,  cornstalk  fiddles,  muck-rakes,  pea-shooters, 
represent  the  rafts  that  float  most  of  mankind.  Our  own 
canoe  is  only  paper.  On  the  whole,  the  Pelicans  thought 
it  a  much  more  refined  method  of  sailing  toward  the 
better  land  to  take  a  bowl,  which  they  accordingly 
did — a  first-class  affair,  called  the  "  Night-blooming 
Cereus." 

I  regard  it  as  a  paltry  trick  in  an  author,  to  tell  the 
perusing  stranger  the  whole  family  history  of  the  book- 
people,  and  so  prejudice  his  mind  with  scandal — a  thing 
altogether  unlike  the  healthful  and  inductive  method  of 
acquaintance  in  real  life.  Fortunately  I  am  here  spared 
the  temptation,  for  I  know  nothing  about  the  Pelicans, 
except  that  they  one  day  settled  in  Top  Town,  opened  a 
distillery  and  sample-room,  which  flourished  abundantly, 
and  in  due  time  Peace  and  Charley  grew  into  years  of 
discretion.  I  always  suspected  that  the  old  gentleman 
had  a  touch  of  Spanish  blood  ;  for  the  children  were 
Castilian  brunettes  of  the  most  pronounced  type.  As 
for  their  mother,  she  was  small  and  fair-haired,  very 
gentle,  very  conscientious,  very  winning,  very  much 
afraid  of  Mrs.  Grundy.  She  was  either  a  Perkins  or  a 
Pitkin  or  a  Norton,  or  a  Hooker,  of  Connecticut,  I  don't 
know  exactly  which,  and  any  one  learned  in  New  Eng 
land  genealogies  can  tell  why. 

Of  late  years  Mr.  Pelican  had  interested  himself  in 
benevolence  and  religion ;  had  donated  to  orphan  asy 
lums,  and  given  cottages  at  the  sea-shore  to  struggling 
ministers,  and  sent  poor  students  through  college;  had 
become  instant  in  prayer,  attendant  on  the  preached 
Word,  and  widely  known  through  the  columns  of  the 
local  newspaper,  the  "  Cereus,"  meantime,  piling  up  the 
wherewithal  to  indulge  himself  in  these  pious  bonbons. 
If  he  had  begun  with  a  saloon  and  ended  with  a  still, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  191 

he  would  only  have  been  the  successful  rum  seller ;  but, 
starting  with  the  manufactory,  and  gracefully  adding  the 
sample-room,  Peace  and  Charley  held  their  heads  among 
the  nobles  of  the  land.  Indeed,  there  was  a  legend  about 
a  Spanish  buccaneering  ancestor,  with  bars  of  gold  and 
silver  tankards  (represented  by  a  certain  golden-lined 
silver  sugar-bowl  that  stood  on  three  solid  bear's  claws, 
still  in  the  family),  and  an  oratory  and  a  big  crucifix,  in 
laid  with  diamonds,  and  a  black  mustache  on  the 
father's  side,  and  divers  more  reliable  tales  of  Indian 
encounters  and  revolutionary  episodes,  such  as  found 
vent  from  Mrs.  Pelican's  patrician  lips.  So,  after  all, 
they  had  whereof  to  boast  as  much  as  any,  and  there  the 
young  folks  intrenched  themselves,  and  sniffed  at  come- 
up-over-night  Top  Towners,  particularly  those  who 
"  pushed  by  Miss  Cray  dock,"  which  sort  of  thing  pride 
helped  them  to  despise. 

Mr.  Pelican  had  long  held  dealings  in  real  estate  with 
Deacon  McCross.  He  happened  to  see  Louis  in  his 
office  one  day,  and  was  struck  by  his  modest  bearing  and 
truthful,  refined  face.  He  was  on  the  look-out  for  a  clerk 
at  the  "  Cereus,"  who  would  make  up  for  Charley's  irregu 
larities,  and,  hearing  young  Allwood's  history  with  emen 
dations  from  Squire  Hitchcock,  at  once  set  matters  in 
train  to  engage  him. 

Our  hero  accordingly  went  to  Top  Town,  to  be  re 
ceived  by  Peace's  mother  with  delight.  She  must  needs 
show  him  kindness,  for  her  heart  was  very  tender ;  but 
from  the  moment  the  gentle,  impulsive,  spirituel  enthusi 
ast  entered  her  household,  they  found  a  sympathy  between 
them  that  her  own  haughtily  imperious  children  were  not 
attuned  to  share.  Louis  was  the  sort  of  man  delightful 
in  a  house.  He  was  modest,  pure,  unselfish,  scholarly; 


192  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

full  of  delicate  ways  and  artistic  tastes  ;  always  busy,  al 
ways  cheerful,  and  instinctive  in  generosity  and  tact. 

Mrs.  Pelican  was  the  sort  of  plant  easily  compressed 
into  a  corner  by  the  vigorous  growth  about  her ;  it  really 
proved  a  godsend  when  this  kindred  shoot  enticed  her 
over  the  wall  into  a  more  congenial  garden.  Louis'  def 
erence  to  her,  as  the  representative  of  that  dear,  myste 
rious  motherhood  his  lonely  boy-life  had  never  known, 
was  complete.  She  answered  it  by  taking  him  into  her 
heart  as  her  own  son.  The  inside  witness  of  this  was 
strong  solicitude  in  the  matter  of  his  church-going,  and 
opinions  on  episcopacy  as  the  one  inspired  form  of 
Christianity,  and  soundness  on  the  creed  commonly  called 
Athanasian.  The  outside  evidence  was  her  mending  his 
clothes,  and,  there  being  little  but  books  and  rags  in  the 
tiny  brass-nailed  trunk,  the  omnium  gatherum  of  his 
treasures,  the  shy  replenishing  of  the  same.  But  this 
was  only  ventured  upon  after  a  piteous  tussle  with  the 
rents,  which  were  faithfully  and  curiously  patched  by 
Louis'  own  manly  fingers.  "  My  boy  may  sometimes  be 
motherless  and  a  stranger,"  said  she,  in  a  note  written 
in  her  old-lady's  round-hand,  and  pinned  to  the  addi 
tions  as  a  timid  precaution  against  hurt  and  rebellious 
pride. 

Thereto  Louis  straightway  yielded,  and  brought  his 
beloved  volumes  into  the  sitting-room,  and  spread  his 
music  over  the  piano,  and  played  her  the  "  Battle  of 
Prague,"  because  she  said  it  reminded  her  of  her  youth, 
and  expanded  and  basked  in  the  genial  atmosphere.  If 
he  ever  felt  doubts  as  to  the  benefit  of  the  "  Cereus  "  to 
society  at  large,  ever  at  soul  loathed  the  ruin  he  saw  at 
work  in  heart  or  body  of  its  frequenters,  or  the  spirit 
that  pervaded  its  precincts  and  caused  that  ruin,  he 
kept  it  all  to  himself.  Indeed,  after  the  first  day  or  two 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  193 

he  didn't  think  much  about  it.  He  was  released  from 
the  wearisome  pickings  and  fault-findings  of  Millviile, 
set  in  a  life  of  luxury  and  friendliness,  with  the  dazzling 
hope  of  easy  success  in  business,  and  the  enervating 
sense  of  having  every  man's  good  word  in  a  situation 
where  he  was  secretly  conscious  he  deserved  it  less  than 
when  he  supposed  he  had  their  bad  one.  For  it  was  a 
peculiarity  of  Mrs.  McCross'  discipline,  that  its  subjects 
not  only  detested  themselves,  but  believed  everybody  else 
held  them  in  dislike.  Even  Mollie  was  not  without  a 
trace  of  this  feeling,  and  it  had  gnawed  Louis'  heart  for 
years.  The  men  who  frequented  the  sample  room  were 
both  well-dressed  and  respected ;  Charley,  though  wild, 
was  a  hearty  sort  of  fellow  ;  his  father,  the  soul  of  benev 
olence  ;  and  he  himself  did  all  and  more  than  was  re 
quired  of  him. 

Old  Mr.  Pelican,  passing  through  the  sitting-room 
one  day,  saw  "  Elective  Affinities  "  in  the  original  on  the 
table,  and  examined  its  mysterious  characters  critically. 
His  nose  elevated — "  Slotch !  "  he  said  in  accents  of  deep 
disgust,  and  then  ran  away.  Bnt  he  held  up  the  student 
as  a  pattern  to  Chai'ley  not  the  less,  and  regarded  him.as 
a  rare  and  delicate  curiosity  which  he  had  been  lucky 
in  finding. 

And  Charley,  handsome  as  Absalom,  petted,  spoiled, 
took  a  most  pernicious  fancy  to  Louis,  and  they  came 
and  went  together  as  David  and  Jonathan.  A  general 
favorite  is  seldom  the  best  of  the  flock.  Charley  had 
been  the  family  idol.  He  had  run  away  from  school  and 
driven  a  canal-boat  six  months  in  boyhood ;  won  silver 
cups  in  memorable  boat-races ;  was  up  in  trapeze  ex 
ercises;  could  perform  the  giant's  swing,  and  hold  a 
chair  with  a  man  in  it,  at  arm's  length,  by  the  bottom 
round.  He  was  a  connoisseur  in  ballet-dancing,  and  held 
9 


194  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

pronounced  opinions  on  the  proper  size  of  the  feminine 
ankle.  He  was,  I  reiterate,  absolutely  beautiful ;  and 
had  two  fetiches  in  the  persons  of  a  billiard-cue  and  a 
pair  of  huge  iron  dumb-bells. 

Possibly  it  would  have  been  better  if  the  business 
hours  had  not  gradually  stretched,  and  the  quiet  even 
ings,  when,  the  father  being  away  at  charitable  meetings 
and  the  son  in  society,  Louis  translated  the  "  Wands- 
becker  Bote,"  played  his  beloved  Mendelssohn,  and  dis 
coursed  of  Wagner  to  the  well-pleased  old  lady  knitting 
fancy  socks  by  the  table,  been  exchanged  for  long  stays 
at  the  sample-room,  and  longer  visits  to  a  gaming-saloon 
opposite ;  not  that  Louis  was  learning  to  love  gambling ; 
he  had  no  bump  where  such  temptation  was  tempta 
tion  ;  he  went  because,  as  Charley  said,  it  was  necessary 
to  know  the  patrons.  But  his  notion  of  the  "  relation 
of  values  "  was  in  a  way  to  get  dreadfully  mixed. 

As  time  passed,  Mollie's  letters  came  less  and  less  fre 
quently  ;  she,  poor  child,  often  saw  them  thrust  into  the 
fire,  and,  though  she  writhed  under  her  mother's  espion 
age,  yet  strove  to  endure  without  a  murmur.  "  Love," 
she  said  very  often  at  this  time,  "  is  the  Spirit  of  God. 
We  should  therefore  be  careful  not  to  wound  any  human 
love,  lest  we  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit."  Wherefore  she 
suffered  in  silence. 

While,  then,  Louis'  affection  for  his  fiancee  was  as 
fervent  as  ever,  he  grew  gradually  unable  to  locate  her 
memory  in  his  new,  full  life  ;  and  her  influence  was  daily 
buried  deeper  beneath  its  confused  impressions,  hurried 
acts,  half-formed  estimates  of  the  all-important  worth 
while.  And  Charley,  energetic,  variable,  full  of  exube 
rant  vitality  in  the  every-day  contact,  usurped  her  out 
side  place. 

Matters  had  been  sliding  and  slipping  down-hill  in  this 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  195 

way  about  a  year  and  a  half,  when  something  occurred, 
as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  which  gave  them  accelerated 
speed. 

Mr.  Pelican  had  the  greatest  propensity  for  asking 
people  home  from  his  religious  and  charitable  conven 
tions  to  spend  the  night.  On  this  occasion  he  had  picked 
up  the  Rev.  Dr.  Perfect,  late  of  Nansook  Junction,  now 
of  Millville,  who  was  nothing  loth  to  save  a  hotel-bill, 
and  become  acquainted  with  the  rich  and  eccentric 
Abimelech  Pelican,  Esq.  He  even  talked  late  that  even 
ing  with  him  over  a  pitcher  of  sweet  cider.  The  doctor 
refused  all  more  intoxicating  beverages,  but  ate  up  a  very 
full  saucer  of  brandy  excused  by  a  wonderfully  minute 
peach,  mischievously  dished  out  by  Charley  as  a  tester. 
It  is  only  justice  to  say  that  he  sanctified  the  viands  by  a 
grace  long  and  all-embracing  enough  to  equal  a  spiritual 
bear-hug,  closing  with  the  hope  that  the  Lord  would 
strengthen  them  by  and  help  them  to  grow  through  the 
same  ;  which  Charley  misconstrued  into  "  Strengthen  us 
to  bite,  and  help  us  to  go  through  it." 

The  doctor  was  a  large,  pompous  man,  with  a  bass 
voice  and  shaggy  gray  eyebrows.  He  might  be  a  fer 
vent  Christian  and  a  burning  light,  but  Charley  told  Louis 
in  a  loud  aside,  "It  was  whale-oil,  smoky."  "Is  it. 
Brother  Allwood  ? "  cried  the  worthy  man,  dashing  at 
his  victim  in  a  glow  of  religious  feeling. 

"  I  don't  know  that  you'd  think  me  worthy  that  appel 
lation,"  said  Louis,  shrinking  away  like  a  sensitive  plant, 
in  double  disgust  at  Charley's  snickers  and  Dr.  Perfect's 
"  word  in  season." 

During  the  meal,  the  reverend  gentleman  talked  much 
of  the  higher  Christian  life,  which  he  and  his  wife 
illustrated  so  well  that  they  had  neither  of  them  sinned 
for  a  twelvemonth,  and  further  argued  the  possibility  of 


196  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

performing  miracles,  hinting  at  a  more  than  speculative 
knowledge  of  these  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  He  also  made  a 
toxiching  personal  appeal  on  the  subject  of  religion  to 
every  one  present,  beginning  with  poor  Mrs.  Pelican, — 
whose  timid  faith  was  fruitful  of  more  goodness  than 
comfort,  and  who  felt  a  rude  home-thrust  to  the  bottom 
of  her  soul, — and  ending  with  Charley,  whom  he  besought 
to  be  warned  in  time. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  retorted  the  young  man  gravely,  "  in  the 
touching  words  of  the  poet,  I  feel 

"  '  Youth  forward  slips, 
Death  soonest  nips.' 

I've  often  thought  what  a  pity  it  was  we  couldn't  shorten 
up  the  lives  of  our  Christian  friends  to  lengthen  out  our 
own.  It  would  be  clear  gain  to  both  parties,  you  know." 

The  clock  cuckoo  cried  twelve  warning  notes  before 
Dr.  Perfect  offered  to  retire,  so  interested  was  he  in 
expounding  the  spiritual  view  of  the  unilluminated 
Christian's  shortcomings  to  his  sleepy  host  and  hostess, 
the  boys  having  pleaded  business  and  run  off.  He  had 
been  sitting  some  time  before  his  bedroom  fire,  toasting 
his  feet,  in  very  airy  costume,  previous  to  a  departure  for 
the  land  of  Nod,  when  the  bell  below  began  to  ring 
furiously.  In  nowise  averse  to  learn  the  family  secrets, 
he  hastened  to  the  hall  to  listen,  and,  hearing  men's  voices 
on  the  steps,  resolved  to  save  the  household  trouble,  and 
open  the  door  himself. 

In  company  with  a  stream  of  cold  air,  the  gentlemen 
dashed  in,  shaking  the  snow  from  their  feet  and  coats ; 
and  Charley,  who  had  stood  treat  quite  too  often  that 
evening,  made  a  dive  at  the  visitor,  and  caught  him  in 
his  Arctic  embrace.  Indeed,  the  poor  man's  white  dra 
pery  rendered  him  a  conspicuous  object  in  the  faint  light. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  197 

"  O  Romeo  !  Romeo ! 

"  '  When  marshalled  on  the  mighty  plain, 
When  shall  we  three  meet  again?  '  " 

cried  lie,  hugging  him  fondly.  "  What's  in  a  name,  old 
cub  ?  We'll  sleep  together  at  the  foot.  Bully  boy  with 
a  glass  eye  !  " 

"  Anathema  maranatha  ! "  exclaimed  the  doctor,  try 
ing  in  vain  to  release  himself.  t(  Let  me  go — put  me 
down,  you  young  repi*obate.  Touch  not  the  Lord's 
anointed !  " 

"  '  Maid  of  Athens,  ere  we  part, 

Give,  oh !  give  me  back  my  heart ! ' " 

murmured  Charley,  clasping  him  still  more  fondly. 
"  Alas !  how  vainly  I  sigh  ;  as  soon  make  a  whistle  out  of 
a  pig's  tail,  as  get  anything  back  from  a  priest's  clutches. 
At  least  we'll  have  a  farewell  break-down  before  I  say 
adieu,  pretty  waltzer,  adieu." 

"  Dance ! "  gasped  the  divine,  who  looked  like  a 
well-thumped  pillow  in  the  clutches  of  a  housemaid. 
"  Dance  !  Avaunt,  Satan  !  " 

'  "  -Once  there  lived  a  man  in  Balninaerazy 
Who  wanted  a  minister  to  make  him  onazy. 
And  thus  the  gentle  youth  he  bespoke  him, 
"  Will  you  dance  with  him,  dear  Ally  Croaker?  "     'Hem  ! '  " 

Charley  was  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  and  they 
were  flying  about  among  chairs  and  tables  with  fury. 

"  Do  you  know  what  you've  got,  young  man  ?  "  thun 
dered  Dr.  Perfect.  "  Yerbi  divini  minister!  Servns 
servorum  Dei.  Omnia  ad  Dei  gloriain.  Monstrum  hor- 
rendum  informe  ingens  cui  lumen  ademptum." 

"  '  I've  got  an  old  Tom-cat,  although  one  eye  is  staring, 
I've  got  a  Sunday  hat  a  little  worse  for  wearing  ! ' 


198  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Come,  Louis,  beat  time  with  the  shovel  and  tongs; 
this  deuced  darling  is  so  heavy  I'm  out  of  breath.  You 
know  the  tune  '  Barney  Brallaghan,'  te  dit  de,  de  de, 
diddle  de."  They  had  whirled  into  the  library  by  this. 
"  Never  mind,"  as  the  poor  man  gave  a  series  of  agile 
skips,  remarkable  for  one  of  his  ponderous  proportions, 
"  you'll  soon  catch  the  steps.  One,  two,  three,  hop  !  " 

"  Let  me  be  !     It's  wicked  !  "  gasped  the  doctor. 

"  Oh !  do  not  be  discouraged,  never  too  old  to  learn," 
urged  Charley  between  his  rapid  gyrations.  "  I  can  take 
the  tuck  out  of  any  dancer  living.  Oh !  your  toes  ?  " 

Round  and  round  they  spun,  dashing  among  tables, 
knocking  over  chairs ;  Louis  performing  the  music  with 
tongs  and  fender;  Charle}r,  carolling  snatches  of  songs 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  till  the  family,  roused  by  the  ter 
rific  din,  rushed  down  en  masse  to  part  the  dancers. 

Dr.  Perfect  left  directly  after  breakfast  next  morning, 
shaking  the  dust  from  his  feet,  and  predicting  "  wrath  " 
laid  up  for  Charley,  whom  he  denominated  a  worthy  type 
of  "Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  that  made  Israel  to 
sin." 

Though  Louis'  share  in  the  above  proceedings  had  been 
small,  he  wandered  about  the  "  Cereus  "  next  day  in  an 
agony  of  repentance  and  disgust.  His  friend  attempted 
comfort. 

"  Have  some  whiskey  ?  This  on  hand  is  most  as  good 
as  water.  That's  what  the  old  fellow  said  about  his  root- 
beer,  after  he'd  drunk  half  the  keg." 

His  repentant  partner  shook  his  head.  "  I  detest 
myself — the  business — everything.  How  could  I  ever 
be  such  a  fool !  I  am  ashamed  to  look  any  one  in  the 
face." 

Charley  lifted  him  up  by  the  strap  of  his  pants  and 
shook  him,  but,  when  he  set  him  down  after  this  trifling 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  199 

admonition,  his  face  was  as  solemn  as  before.  Thereupon 
Mr.  Pelican  treated  him  to  a  glance  half- remorseful,  half 
bitter. 

(l '  Champagne  Charley  is  his  name.'  Why  don't  you 
say  it  and  tell  the  truth  ?  "  said  he. 

"  I'm  not  going  to  blame  any  one  but  myself,"  was 
Louis'  friendly  answer ;  "  one's  enough  to  be  disgusted  with 
at  a  time." 

He  had  hardly  got  the  words  out  of  his  mouth,  when 
Hercules  picked  him  from  his  chair,  and,  regardless  of  his 
kicks  and  struggles,  consigned  him  to  a  long  drawer  that 
happened  to  be  open  near  by,  whence  he  only  emerged  on 
solemn  promise  to  pull  no  more  sad  faces.  But  stopping 
the  foolish  boy's  mouth  didn't  rest  his  conscience.  After 
this,  feeling  disgraced  in  his  own  eyes,  he  plunged  eagerly 
into  Charley's  pleasures.  Mollie  was  too  closely  watched 
at  home  to  find  opportunity  to  write  many  letters,  and 
the  closer  application  to  business,  which  is  the  usual  re 
sult  of  a  good  woman's  epistles  to  her  engaged,  was  their 
very  worst  outgrowth  possible,  in  this  case. 

Mrs.  Pelican  sighed,  but  couldn't  make  up  her  mind  to 
undertake  remonstrances  with  a  stranger  that  she  had 
already  proved  ineffectual  with  her  son.  Mr.  Pelican 
was  laying  plans  for  a  soldiers'  home,  and  poohed  at  her 
fears. 

"  Nonsense,  woman,"  cried  he,  pushing  up  his  glasses. 
"  I  don't  believe  it.  Boys  will  be  boys.  Must  sow  wild 
oats  some  time.  Don't  fret  yourself.  I  was  a  great  deal 
worse  than  they." 

His  wife  knew  this  perfectly  ;  she  had  had  the  task  of 
rooting  up  his  early  planted  weed-crop  all  her  life,  but 
she  was  too  true  a  woman  to  own  even  to  her  secret 
soul  that  Bimmy  could  be  altered  for  the  better.  Her 
only  doubt  was  whether  a  second  edition  of  herself  would 


200  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

be  found  to  undertake  the  like  work  for  this  youthful 
chip  of  the  old  block. 

Peace  came  home  but  seldom.  She  had  here  the 
skeletons  of  her  life,  which  she  knew  neither  how  to  com 
mand  out  of  sight,  nor  destroy,  and  so  stayed  from  Top 
Town  more  and  more,  and  tried  to  find  comfort  at  Mill- 
ville — at  school — travelling — anywhere  among  strangers. 
This  was  just  as  well.  She  acted  like  yeast  on  Charley's 
latent  possibilities  of  evil ;  everything  Avrong  in  him 
began  to  ferment  the  instant  she  sailed  into  the  house. 
"  She  sniffs  so  at  a  feller,"  the  aggrieved  youth  com 
plained  to  Louis.  "  I  say  to  myself, '  Jam  din,  jam  dudum ! 
I'll  bust  for  two  and  a  half,  if  I  don't  cut  up  something,' 
and  then  I  vamose  and  free  my  mind." 

In  her  flying  visits,  she  scrutinized  Louis  closely,  her 
dark,  brilliant  eyes  seizing  every  alteration,  and  her 
handsome  lip  carelessly  indexing  the  scorn  and  angry 
contempt  she  felt. 

"  He's  a  dissipated  fool,"  she  exclaimed  to  her  mother, 
as  she  watched  the  pair  sauntering  down  the  street,  cigar 
in  hand.  "  His  gentle  brown  orbs,  that  poor  Mollie 
dotes  on,  wander  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  rather  than 
meet  mine ;  the  very  clothes  he  wears  have  replaced  their 
former  modest  poverty  and  boyish  grace  with  the  fashion 
able,  exquisite  airs  of  '  our  set.'  I  could  spit  a  chicken 
on  the  waxed  ends  of  that  dyed  mustache,  and  he  parts 
his  hair  in  the  middle.  If  a  hung  Punch  in  effigy  would 
look  like  a  warning  to  him,  I'd  rob  the  poor-box  to  buy 
the  puppet." 

*'  Oh  !  how  dreadful,  my  daughter  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Pelican,  thoroughly  shocked.  She  never  could  give  her 
feelings  the  relief  of  a  mutual  outpouring  with  Peace. 
The  vehemence  with  which  the  excitable  girl  vented  her 
emotions,  made  her  literal,  conscientious  mother  shrink 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  201 

timidly  within  herself,  afraid.  "  It's  all  Charley's  fault," 
said  she,  with  a  sigh.  "  Don't  hurt  his  feelings,  daughter  ; 
he  seems  like  my  own  boy." 

"  But  some  one  ought  to  do  something ! "  fumed  Peace. 
"  Don't  you  see  how  that  everlasting  bottle  is  just  soaking 
all  the  man  out  of  him  ?  Think  of  Mollie !  I  wish 
Charlie  was  dead !  I  wish  I  was  dead  !  Everybody  !  " 

She  was  accenting  this  declaration  in  her  usual  way, 
when  she  saw  two  tears  course  down  her  mother's  face 
below  the  gold-bowed  glasses,  and  fall,  round  and  glisten 
ing,  among  her  forgotten,  tangling  worsted  balls.  The 
raw  recruit  in  the  camp  of  pain  stopped,  remorseful  and 
terrified  ;  she  knew  her  mother  cared  as  much,  but  she  had 
not  seen  her  in  her  veteran's  uniform  before.  A  young 
girl  may  well  tremble  before  an  old  woman's  tears. 
"  Women  can  do  nothing  better  than  suffer  in  silence," 
said  the  little  lady,  hastily  composing  herself.  "It  is 
their  only  defence,  my  child." 

So  Peace  thought  better  of  her  half-formed  resolve  to 
remonstrate  with  Mr.  Allwood,  and  worse  of  the  liquor 
trade,  and  kept  away  from  Top  Town  altogether,  leaving 
Louis  to  go  on  unwarned.  Toward  summer  Euphemia 
Hitchcock  came  up  to  spend  a  week  or  two  with  some 
friends,  and  Louis  sought  her  out  at  a  sociable,  and  asked 
after  Mollie.  But  Miss  Adeliza  had  not  seen  her,  though 
she  opined  such  constancy  to  mission-work  was  "  likely 
to  make  one  peaked." 

Even  this  doubtful  news  was  the  source  of  misfortune  ; 
for,  being  obliged  to  return  to  the  "  Cereus,"  he  confided 
her  to  Charley,  who  undertook  to  see  her  home.  Notwith 
standing  her  confidences  with  Miss  Petingil,  the  fair 
Hitchcock  started  forth  triumphant  in  the  exchange. 
But  her  escort,  tiring  of  her  inanities,  halted  in  mid-road. 
"  If  you  aren't  afraid  to  go  alone  the  rest  of  the  way,  I'm 


202  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

not,"  said  he,  and  left  her :  a  circumstance  which  she 
neither  forgave  nor  forgot. 

A  lowered  view  of  life ;  a  distrust  of  one's  fellows  ;  a 
thirst  for  excitement ;  a  settling  back  from  the  race,  are 
not  surer  signs  of  folly  than  precursors  of  fall.  Into  this 
state  Louis  was  now  come,  and  the  result  was  inevitable. 
Neither  Mollie's  letters  nor  her  love  could  now  stem  the 
current.  Indeed,  Mollie  seemed  a  long  way  behind  in 
his  life-journey ;  it  was  hardly  more  real  than  a  dream  to 
him  that  he  had  ever  known  her.  But  his  one  possibil 
ity  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  memory  was  a  blissful  dream. 

One  Sunday  night,  about  this  time,  the  family  were  all 
collected  in  the  library  around  a  green  bass-wood  fire. 
This  same  fuel  was  a  speculation  of  Mr.  Pelican's.  He 
had  bought  a  large  quantity  because  of  its  white  and 
beautiful  appearance,  in  expectation  of  a  fine  blaze. 

"  I  declare  !  "  cried  Charley,  after  poking  and  punching 
the  sizzling  stuff  in  vain,  "if  father'd  give  up  benevo 
lence  and  buy  two  or  more  cords  of  this,  he  could  put 
hell  out." 

"O  my  son!"  exclaimed  his  mother,  disquieted  by 
the  profane  allusion. 

"  I  solemnly  believe  it,"  reiterated  he.  "  That  reminds 
me.  Father,  have  you  told  the  Sunday-school  lately  about 
the  pious  old  lady,  who  was  so  poor  she  was  obliged  to 
read  her  Bible  all  night  by  the  moonshine  coming  down 
chimney?  He  did,  mother  ;  I  heard  him  myself." 

Mrs.  Pelican's  delicate  soul-machinery  was  very  sensi 
tive  to  the  endless  jars  of  her  robust  household.  She 
felt  that  her  husband's  corns  were  trod  on,  and  looked  at 
him  with  helpless  concern.  The  wicked  twinkle  in  Char 
ley's  eyes  was  ominous  of  a  worse  onslaught,  and,  anxious 
to  change  the  subject,  she  insinuated  mildly,  "Bimmy, 
dear,  let's  sing  a  hymn." 


8&IPTLES8  FOLKS.  203 

Now  as  her  good  man  had  superintended  a  Sunday- 
school,  led  in  a  prayer-meeting,  presided  over  a  mission 
ary  society,  and  heard  three  sermons  that  day,  he  had  no 
further  appetite  for  honeycomb.  "  Peace,  woman,  peace  !  " 
he  exclaimed,  pushing  back  the  suggestion  with  both 
hands ;  "  I  loathe  everything  good." 

c<  Mother'll  have  to  hang  her  harp  on  a  willow-tree," 
said  Charley  in  a  bantering  tone.  "Father's  had  too 
much  whang-doodle." 

If  Mrs.  Pelican's  vocabulary  of  proper  names  had  in 
cluded  that  legendary  bird's,  she  might  not  have  felt  hurt. 
As  it  was,  she  supposed  the  allusion  was  a  term  of  oppro 
brium  especially  referring  to  her  proposal,  and  sat,  meek 
and  forlorn,  in  the  corner. 

Loxiis,  who  was  seldom  included  in  the  family  misun 
derstandings,  presently  opened  the  piano  and  began  to 
play  quietly,  and,  after  a  few  minutes'  hopeless  survey  of 
the  prospects  for  pious  union,  the  old  lady  drew  her 
rocker  toward  the  instrument  and  composed  herself  to 
listen. 

This  would  have  been  good  policy  in  Louis,  under 
ordinary  circumstances.  Mr.  Pelican  immediately  leaned 
back  in  his  lounging-chair,  and  stretched  out  his  feet  for 
a  nap,  and  Charley,  who  had  a  tremendous  bass  voice, 
proceeded  to  improvise  a  vocal  accompaniment.  But 
malignant  fate  has  swift  revenges  for  people  who  under 
take  to  baulk  her  plans  for  being  disagreeable.  She  sug 
gested  artfully  to  Absalom,  watching  his  mother  as  she 
swayed  back  and  forth  to  the  rhythm  of  the  music,  that 
Louis  was  supplanting  him  in  her  affections.  The  more 
he  glowered  at  the  picture  and  compared  his  brusquerie 
to  his  chum's  thoughtful  tact,  the  more  obvious  became 
the  sequence.  Delighted  at  the  thought  of  giving  his  old 
friend  a  nice  evening,  the  musician  was  laying  himself  out 


204  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  please.  Variations  of  the  "  Swiss  Boy,"  "  Buena  Vista 
Polka,"  ''Postilion  of  Lonjumeau,"  "  L'Enfer  Quadrilles," 
Gluck's  "  Gavotte,"  all  the  old-fashioned  favorites  he  could 
remember,  followed  each  other  in  animated  succession,  and 
Charley's  new-born  jealousy  augmented  every  moment. 

"Small  herbs  have  grace;  but  great  weeds  grow  apace." 

It  was  actually  eleven  o'clock  when  the  minstrelsy 
ended,  and  long  before  that,  C.  Pelican,  Esq.,  after  throw 
ing  the  whole  contents  of  his  pocket  at  the  performer,  bit 
by  bit,  gave  up  the  hope  of  stilling  his  energy,  and  re 
tired  to  put  snuff  on  his  pillows,  in  small  attempt  at  re 
venge  ;  and  he  actually  arose  at  three  next  morning,  and 
stole  to  Louis'  bedside  to  hide  a  hair-brush  in  his  boot 
and  add  alum  to  his  tooth-powder,  before  his  mischief- 
teeming  brain  would  rest. 

The  day  following,  as  these  little  ebullitions  had  not 
eased  his  mind,  Charley  planned  a  double  visit  to  the 
opera  and  the  youth's  prayer-meeting,  in  company  with  a 
young  lady  better  known  to  his  male  acquaintances  than 
their  sisters.  Unfortunately  old  Mr.  Pelican  happened 
to  preside  at  the  latter,  and,  spying  his  ill-doing  heir,  he 
took  early  occasion  to  administer  a  tremendous  raking 
over,  which,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  would  have 
been  received  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  the  main  burden 
of  it  was  to  hold  up  Louis  as  a  pattern,  and  this  gave  a 
second  turn  to  the  snow-ball.  Henceforth  it  grew 
mightily.  Louis  could  not  issue  a  direction  in  the  store, 
whose  management  was  largely  in  his  hands,  nor  open  the 
door  for  Mrs.  Pelican,  nor  pick  up  her  handkerchief,  nor 
talk  confidentially  five  minutes  with  his  father,  without 
spurring  it  with  fresh  impetus  down  that  steep  hill  on 
whose  tops  sits  distrust  frowning  upon  confidence  asleep 
below, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  205 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

"  Pease  porridge  hot,  pease  porridge  cold  ; 
Pease  porridge  in  the  pot,  nine  days  old." 

FEW  weeks  after  Amos'  donkey-ride,  Mollie 
and  Mr.  Haythorne  planned  an  unprecedented 
entertainment,  the  same  being  nothing  less  than 
a  tea-party  at  little  Doppy's.  Since  Mr.  Haythorne's 
assumption  of  Doppy's  class  it  had  multiplied  in  numbers, 
and  shone  in  erratic  verses  above  all  others.  There  is  a 
tradition  of  one  of  the  latter  still  handed  down,  supposed 
to  have  been  produced  by  a  very  juvenile  member  of  the 
sisterhood  : 

' '  Plenty  of  fishes  in  the  brook, 
Daddy  ketch  'em  wid  a  hook  ; 
Mammy  fry  'em  in  de  pan, 
Daddy  eat  'em  like  a  man." 

But  whether,  as  Peace  insisted,  this  novel  Bible  recita 
tion  was  the  result  of  Mr.  Haythorne's  industry,  this  de 
ponent  saith  not.  Peace,  who  was  again  in  Millville  for 
the  summer,  seemed  delighted  with  the  tea-party  idea, 
and  invited  herself.  It  would  have  been  wise  in  you  to 
have  done  the  same. 

The  fact  is  curious  that  we  owe  to  the  agents  of  our 
worst  ills  their  occasional  alleviation.  Par  exemple,  if  old 
Mulligan,  whose  drunkenness  was  the  source  of  his 
daughter's  troubles,  had  not  got  very  drunk  that  morning, 
and  so  absented  himself  for  a  week's  spree,  her  tea-party 
might  have  lacked  the  successful  termination  insured  by 
his  absence.  As  it  was,  a  town  election  the  day  previous 
being  the  indirect  cause,  and  corruption  of  the  ballot, 


206  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

and  the  consequent  folly  of  certain  wretched  husbands, 
fathers,  brothers,  and  sons,  the  direct,  his  pocket  was 
full,  and  he  started  for  Top  Town  instanter,  to  spend  the 
contents. 

Then  began  scrubbings  and  sweepings  on  the  part  of 
Doppy,  and  comments  and  good  advice  from  Master 
Daley,  who  had  begged  holiday  and  immediately  trans 
ferred  himself  to  his  friend's  hospitable  door-posts. 

"  Now,  Amos,"  said  the  maiden,  as  she  tucked  up  her 
beds  resplendent  with  two  green-and-yellow  patchwork 
quilts,  "  ain't  them  splendid  !  The  colors  is  so  cheerin'. 
Do  ye  mind  me  tellin'  ye  yesterday  that  father  give  me 
the  money  to  git'  em  from  the  pawnshop  ?  Mother  she 
made  'em  jest  afore  she  died." 

Yes,  Ainos  minded ;  and  how  came  the  glass  out  of 
the  window? 

"  Them's  the  fruits  of  timperance,"  said  Doppy  in  angry 
irony,  bestowing  a  kick  on  the  coals  that  old  Mulligan  had 
scattered  over  the  floor  in  a  drunken  tumble.  "  Yis,  timper 
ance  !  ATI'  why  don't  ye  ask  where  the  fine  new  curtings 
has  gone  that  me  and  Miss  McCross  made  no  longer 
ago'n  Saturday  week  !  Whin  I  meditates  cousarnin'  the 
meanness  of  min,  I  could  hate  'em  all,  even  you,  Amos  !  " 

"  Thin  I  wouldn't  think  on't,"  said  he,  not  much 
alarmed,  to  all  appearance.  Doppy,  however,  did  think 
on't,  and  a  still  more  emphatic  kick  preluded  a  flood  of 
tears  rather  stormy  than  beautifying.  Her  freckled  swain 
eyed  her  awhile  with  an  extremely  puzzled  air,  then  took 
one  hand  from  his  trousers'  pockets  and  scratched  his  head 
thoughtfully. 

"  An'  was  it  Goodheart's  ?  " 

"  Yis,  it  were  Good  Hearts,"  with  a  stamp.  "  If  you 
don't  quit  gawpin'  there  at  me  that's  so  miserable,  I'll 
shy  coals  at  you."  Whereat  he  found  it  best  to  disap- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  •_    ~ 

pear,  first,  however,  enticing  die  pet  hen  into  the  room  to 
act  as  comforter. 

It  win  be  hereby  perceived  thai  Doppy's  straggles  after 
respectability  had  produced  their  invariable  meed  of 
heart-ache,  which,  by  the  way,  her  friend  Mollie  shared 
tothefnlL 


:•!.  .  .  .  :_  ..-..*•:  .'__•  :-.  •.•.-:-..-._:_  -'.:."•",--,•,  .  ^  -•/;.-  ±;  -.*. 
with  rooe-colored  silk  and  daintily  famished,  in  process 
of  manufccfcure  for  Miss  Mulligan—  "In  the  first  place, 
it's  wicked  to  waste  such  lovely  things." 

"Waste?"  Moffie  was  going  to  lift  her  eyebrows  in 
superior  wisdom,  and  let  it  go,  but  womanly  love.  of 
self-defence  got  the  better.  u  This  only  cost  four  dollars  ; 

I          _  ..-;     "_-       •:  :_-'.."•     .-..I.         'Li.-'.'..--.     I-      -1-         —  -  -:      --.--•_-•:      -.1.  ^ 

cotton  wagon.  I  saw  yon  pay  jfcee  for  the  turkey  yon 
presented  Barney  CTHara  last  Christmas.  That  only 
lasted  a  day,  and  this  will  be  useful  a  long  time." 

"  Who  cares  for  a  commonplace  turkey  I  "  said  Peace, 
"firt*  long-legged  thing!  Bat  this  is  so  delicate  and 
adyfike.  It  is  out  of  taste  for  tsrii  people  to  have  tnfh 


How  provoking  in  Mollie  to  laogh. 
"I  know  what  yon  will  say,"  continued  Peace,  color 
ing  with  vexed  sense  of  defeat.     «  *Yon  wish  to  excite  as- 


better  than  wealth.'  If  yon  don't  fret  them  with  sense 
of  Iaek,they11  never  know  the  difference.  Whatifthey 
live  like  pigs?  That's  all  that^  asked  of  them.  I  think 
yon  do  them  a  positive  injury  when  yon  put  inch  ideas 
in  their  heads.  They're  a  great  deal  mace  unhappy 
:-.:.  :-  ,-  v-.-.-:  -  :  ;./,-.-_  -,-;  .  :  -,-.-:.  :_,:_" 

^Perhaps  they  are,"  said  Mollie  gravely,  «  though  I 
don't  bdneve  it     But  that  does  not  prove  me  wrong. 


208  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

In  this  life,  or  the  next,  we  have  ultimately  just  what  we 
earn.  Success  fairly  pays  for  our  efforts,  and  I  think  any 
amount  of  misery  worth  enduring,  if  we  may  thereby 
struggle  up  into  a  higher  state  of  existence.  The  fact  is  " 
(she  spoke  with  the  conviction  that  comes  from  expe 
rience),  "  every  step  we  gain  is  through  pain,  either  ours 
or  another's — sharper  in  direct  proportion  to  our  ad 
vance.  It  has  come  to  me  lately,  that  Christ's  best  gift 
was  the  power  to  find  in  pain,  formerly  the  curse  of  life, 
a  ministry  of  blessing." 

Peace,  like  most  people  who  prefer  this  world's  joys  to 
the  other's,  and  instead  of  taking  tremble  for  its  worth,  re 
fuse  to  take  it  at  all,  and  so  have  it  forced  on  them, — 
Peace  looked  uncomfortable,  and  edged  off. 

We  return  to  Doppy  at  the  same  moment  with  Amos, 
and  find  her  still  gathered  into  a  disconsolate  heap  on  the 
floor,  absently  smoothing  the  pet  hen  with  one  hand,  and 
arranging  the  scattered  cinders  in  gray  squares  and  tri 
angles  with  the  other.  She  jumped  up  ashamed  of  her 
emotion,  and  hurried  to  the  sink  for  the  water-pail,  intent 
to  escape  to  the  well.  But  he,  no  whit  abashed,  dis 
played  the  missing  hangings,  and  called  her  to  come  and 
look,  in  proud  triumph. 

"No,  I  won't!"  resolutely.  "I'll  not  be  in  no  one's 
debt ;  I  hain't  no  money.  Father  takes  every  cint  I  airn 
at  the  mill.  Them  as  borrers,  sorrers — mind  that."  Dop 
py  bowed  her  head  on  the  handle  of  the  bucket  and  wept 
aloud. 

Amos  dropped  his  bundle,  and  eyed  her  in  blank  mis 
ery.  "  I  say,  Doppy,  I  hain't  asked  ye  to  borrer,"  said 
he,  after  revolving  the  case  doubtfully  awhile.  "  I 
thought  ye  wanted  to  be  respectable,  so  I  got  the  cur- 
tings.  If  ye  hadn't  had  the  pawn-ticket  on  the  floor 
stamping  on't,  I  couldn't  ha'  done  it;  so  it's  all  your 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  209 

fault,  an'  I  shan't  take  'em  back."  The  good-natured 
fellow  looked  ready  to  follow  his  friend's  example  and  in 
dulge  in  damp  emotions. 

"  Amos,  how  can  I  ever  be  respectable  ?  "  said  the  poor 
girl,  appealing  to  him  as  a  refuge  of  strength.  "  What 
with  father,  an'  livin'  here  in  this  nasty  hole,  an'  havin' 
Joe  upstairs,  an'  bein'  so  ignorant  myself,  it's  too  much 
to  ask.  I'm  wretched  !  " 

"  Now,  Doppy,  you'll  come  out  ahead,"  said  Amos, 
drawing  closer,  and  evidently  believing  his  own  words. 
"  I'll  tell  you  what  I'd  do,"  speaking  with  great  effort ; 
"I'd— I'd— "  He  hesitated. 

"  Go  on,"  said  Doppy  expectantly. 

"  I'd  do  the  best  I  could." 

This  advice  may  seem  trite,  but  not  to  Doppy.  The 
want  in  her  heart  was  as  well  filled  thus  as  ever  were 
Barbara  Farquhar  or  the  "  Wide,  Wide  World  "  heroine 
or  Aurora  Leigh  or  Guenevere  or  Ursula  Halifax  or  any 
other  written-up  ladies  sustained  and  comforted  by  their 
devoted  adorers.  It  is  the  manifested  desire  to  lift  the 
burden,  not  the  way  in  which  it  is  handled,  that  helps 
women  to  bear.  As  for  the  weight  itself,  that  can  seldom 
be  more  than  readjusted  at  best. 

"  I  guess  I  will,"  said  Doppy,  with  a  light-hearted  re 
sumption  of  her  armor,  and  a  cei'tain  tender,  sweet  curve 
of  her  red  lips,  not  yet  quite  steady. 

"  Doppy,"  pursued  Mentor  earnestly,  "  you'd  best  take 
them  curtings ;  seems  like  we  wos  relations,  'n't  don't 
count." 

She  crossed  her  arms  over  the  water-pail,  and  reflected, 
— Amos  watching  in  some  anxiety.  "  Them's  true 
words,"  said  she  at  last.  "  We  is  relations,  fur  we're 
tryin'  to  be  somebody,  'n  I'll  do  it  for  you,  Amos  Daley, 
which  I  wouldn't  fur  no  one  else." 


210  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

So  they  had  a  grand  cleaning  frolic,  that  even  a  few 
sighs  over  the  sadly  deteriorated  appearance  of  the  win 
dow-hangings  couldn't  sadden,  their  owner  consoling  her 
self,  after  the  manner  of  house-keepers,  by  remembering 
that  every  one  had  seen  them  clean  once,  which  proved 
that  they  might  be  again. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  in  squabble  or  making  up, 
Master  Daley  never  laid  so  much  as  a  finger  on  his  little 
friend.  Mollie  had  given  vent  to  too  many  strictxires 
regarding  such  trifling  indecorums,  to  have  them  seem 
pleasant  or  honorable  to  Doppy.  Once  only,  months 
before,  Amos  had  put  his  arm  around  her  in  a  fit  of 
enthusiasm ;  but  the  result  was  disagreeable, 

"  An'  is  it  to  take  advantage  of  a  poor  gii'l's  tears 
you're  here,  Amos  Daley  ?  "  cried  she,  springing  to  her 
feet,  and  dashing  aside  his  hand  vehemently.  "  An' 
haven't  I  enough  sorrer  on  my  heart,  not  to  be  makin' 
it  run  over  wid  sufferin'  along  o'  losin'  me  likin'  for 
meself?  n'  that's  what  yer  caresses  is  leadin'  to.  Go 
long  wid  ye  for  a  sneakin'  Paddy,  n'  not  the  brave  b'y  I 
thought  at  all,  at  all."  And  he  never  got  so  much  as  a 
glance  for  a  week. 

Mollie  and  Peace  had  prepared  for  their  festivity  in 
methods  peculiar  to  themselves  ;  the  former  by  an  hour's 
Bible  reading  and  prayer,  the  latter  by  a  new  set  of  ex 
tremely  becoming  ribbons. 

These  friends,  so  completely  antagonistic,  yet  united, 
made  a  curious  couple.  Peace,  with  her  dark,  imperious 
beauty,  snapped  her  fingers  at  circumstances,  and  fasci 
nated  everyone  as  a  matter  of  enjoyed  opposition  there 
to  ;  while  Mollie  quietly  compelled  her  surroundings  into 
harmony  with  herself  and  each  other. 

Their  arrival,  however,  put  a  quietus  to  the  house 
keeping  of  their  young  hosts;  and  a  hasty  exit,  via 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  211 

the  window,  on  the  part  of  Amos,  awoke  momentary 
misgivings  in  the  souls  of  the  detecting  guests.  But  his 
speedy  entrance,  in  a  clean  collar,  through  the  door, 
calmed  their  fears  ;  and  they  concentrated  their  energies 
upon  unpacking  the  baskets,  setting  the  table,  and  re 
viewing  the  household  crockery,  viz. :  one  gravy-boat, 
landscape  pattern ;  an  egg-glass  with  half  a  standard ; 
three  teacups  inscribed  to  "  my  wife  "  ;  four  tin  plates, 
with  the  alphabet  on  them ;  and  a  tin  soup-dish,  that 
Mollie  recognized  as  having  once  been  Mrs.  Bradshaw's, 
— the  relic  of  a  happy  anniversary.  And  she  smiled, 
even  in  the  arduous  duty  of  setting  forth  the  salad, 
when  she  remembered  the  ride  on  the  ox-cart  with 
Peace  and  Louis  tete-a-tete,  and  the  fun  that  brimmed 
its  now  battered  concave. 

Diligent  counting  of  noses,  however,  revealed  a  defi 
ciency  in  even  these  bountiful  stores.  Doppy  came  to 
the  rescue.  With  her  hands  on  her  hips,  she  told  of 
Joe,  "  a  broth  of  a  girl  intirely,"  that  would  like  to  come 
and  bring  her  crockery ;  and  that  young  lady,  bashfully 
belligerent,  made  her  entree. 

Peace  and  Mollie  both  shrank  back  thoroughly  uncom 
fortable  under  the  bold  black  eyes  unwaveringly  fixed  on 
them.  But  the  critic  manifested  no  embarrassment. 
She  seated  herself  at  once,  stared  contemptuously,  ex 
tracted  some  soothing  compound  from  her  pocket,  which 
she  chewed,  and  kicked  her  bare,  dirty  heels,  and  squared 
her  elbows,  in  haughty  silence.  Perhaps  this  love-for 
gotten  waif  had  depths  of  heroism  and  constancy  in  her 
nature;  but,  if  so,  these  clean,  high-bred  girls  held  no 
key  thereto.  She  hated  them,  as  matter  of  course,  while 
she  calculated  shrewdly  whether  anything  could  be  got 
from  their  strange  dinner-party  freak. 

Meanwhile  the  feast  was  made  ready,  and  if  not  set  out 


212  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

v  "  Wi'  sauce  ragouts  and  sic  like  trashtrie, 

That's  little  short  o'  downright  wastrie," 

yet,  what  with  the  parsley-garnished  ham,  a  trifle  hacked 
from  a  jackknife  in  Amos'  pocket,  the  great  heap  of 
parti-colored  candies,  the  crisp  salad,  the  snowy  biscuit, 
and,  last  but  not  least,  the  fragrant  tea,  it  made  no  poor 
display.  When  once  the  party  were  fairly  seated, 

"  Dire  was  the  clang  of  plates,  of  knife  and  fork, 
That  merc'less  fell  like  tomahawks  at  work." 

A  few  minutes  before  dinner  Doppy's  protegee  loquitur  : 
"  Please,  ma'am,  won't  you'  gi'  me  some  shoes  ?  my 
feets  is  all  bare."  Amos  interposing,  "You  sha'n't 
plague  'em  askin'  fur  things."  But  Mollie  beckoned 
the  child  toward  her :  "  Are  you  too  old  to  be  cuddled?" 
said  she  pleasantly. 

"  Dun  know,"  quoth  Joe,  action  and  tone  alike  new 
to  her,  and  suffered  herself  to  be  drawn  close  to  Mollie, 
as  she  sat  on  the  old  settle. 

Full  of  her  craving  instinct  of  mother-yearning,  my 
darling  was  smiling,  in  her  own  guileless,  winning  charm, 
straight  into  Joe's  poverty-scratched  soul,  and  the  stub 
born  girl  had  no  defence  to  keep  her  out.  She  didn't 
say  much;  these  old  want-twisted  children  never  do. 
They  are  always  observing,  calculating,  learning,  suffer 
ing;  but  to  their  gently  reared  friends  they  have  few 
words.  Yet  after  that  day,  Mollie  never  met  this  poor 
little  one  when  a  smile  did  not  overspread  her  face  and 
soften  her  great  black  eyes. 

But  Peace,  who  wasn't  much  given  to  petting,  least  of 
all  such  repulsive  specimens,  observed  a  cloud  on 
Doppy's  face.  A  kick  levelled  at  Chaw-em-up  suggested 
jealousy.  Of  the  clutches  of  the  green-eyed  fiend, 
friends,  dogs,  and  kittens  are  alike  made  sensible ! 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  213 

"  Won't  you  sit  by  me  ? "  said  Miss  Pelican,  on 
pacific  thoughts  intent. 

"  I  ain't  a  baby ;  I  got  done  such  child's-play  a  long 
while  ago."  Doppy  drew  herself  up,  and  accented  the 
Yankee  compound  word  with  dignity. 

Joe  was  on  her  feec  in  a  moment.  "  So  did  I !  she 
held  onter  me." 

Amos  whistled,  whereat  Doppy  poked  him  viciously 
in  the  ribs,  eliciting  a  grunt,  while  an  expression  of 
stupid  astonishment  crossed  his  good-natured  face. 

Luckily  Mr.  Haythorne's  entrance  concentrated  all  at 
tention  on  the  feast,  and  for  the  time  green  eyes  was  for 
gotten. 

The  new  arrival  was  mainly  attentive  to  Mollie ;  but 
Peace  touched  his  hand  airily.  "  Be  not  familiar  with 
any  woman,  but  commend  all  good  women  in  general  to 
God,"  quoth  she. 

After  this  hint,  he  bestowed  his  cares  on  Doppy,  who 
was  not  deceived  thereby,  and  told  Amos,  who  had 
several  times  during  the  meal  bestowed  unmistakably  dis 
paraging  glances  at  the  red-haired  Sybarite,  that  Miss 
Peace  wanted  Haythorne  herself,  but  she  reckoned  he 
liked  Miss  Mollie  best.  Meanwhile  the  supper  as  a  to 
tality  was  joyous  and  brave,  and  Doppy's  loquacity  grew 
greater  every  moment.  Having  once  learned  to  trust 
her  friends,  she  had  perfect  repose  in  them,  and  not  a 
shadow  of  thought  seemed  to  her  worth  reservation.  En 
couraged  by  her  fearless  freedom,  Joe  ventured  a  little, 
and  the  talk  ran  on  the  wonderful  garden  at  Fir  Covert, 
and  the  treasures  thereof,  not  excepting  Poppy  in  her  green 
and  gold  coat.  Doppy  was  accustomed  to  read  fairy 
tales  aloud  to  her  friend  in  her  Saturday  visits,  and  the 
limits  of  the  McCross  domain  contained  the  whole  stock 
of  stage  machinery  with  which  she  was  able  to  drama- 


214  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

tize  in  her  thought  the  wonders  and  beauties  she  found 
described.  For  stories,  tell  them  aptly  as  you  may,  go 
on  the  theatre  of  every  hearer's  imagination,  to  be  fur 
nished  with  such  scenery  as  memory  may  have  picked 
up,  and  fitted  with  such  passions  for  actors  as  Heaven 
and  the  experience  of  your  critic  may  have  provided. 
What  wonder,  then,  if  our  tragedy  is  stale,  or  our  farce 
drags  !  Figure  the  Pacha  putting  John  Halifax  in  rehear 
sal  !  Alas  !  poor  Yorick  ! 

But  it  was  Poppy  who  filled  Doppy's  conception  full. 
What  had  she  not  stood  for—"  The  Singing  Bird,"  "  The 
Enchanted  Princess,"  "  The  Malignant  Fairy,"  "  Pooh- 
Pooh's  Brother  Phoenix,"  "The  Ugly  Duckling."  To 
her  dying  day  Dorothea  loved  her.  What  wonder  she 
waxed  eloquent !  "  Only  to  see  her  ways,  perliter  than 
anybody's,  and  her  rid  eyes." 

"  Yis,  she  allus  kisses  when  you  gives  her  anything, 
and  eats  it  right  away,"  said  Amos,  applying  his  remark 
by  a  kick  at  Joe's  toes. 

"  I  can  do  that  myself,"  said  the  disconcerted  damsel, 
putting  an  enormous  piece  of  sponge-cake  into  her  mouth, 
in  effort  to  appear  at  home.  "  He  says, '  Dear  Louis,  dear 
Mary,  ptchoo  ! '  that's  a  kiss,  you  know.  I've  often  heerd 
him  in  your  garden  afore  any  one  was  up."  Then  becom 
ing  conscious  of  what  her  confession  involved,  Joe  turned 
very  red  and  took  refuge  behind  a  biscuit.  "  Mr.  All- 
wood's  name  is  Louis,"  added  she,  reappearing.  "  Mr. 
Allwood  is  the  nicest  man  ever  I  see.  He  has  the  littlest 
foot  entirely,  and  the  voice  of  him  so  sweet  like  a  melo- 
deon.  He  allus  give  me  a  penny.  He  ain't  here  no 
more,  is  he,  Miss  McCross  ?  " 

Peace,  who  enjoyed  such  complications,  stole  a  look  at 
Mr.  Haythorne,  and  smiled  benevolently  at  the  uncon 
scious  Malaprop ;  and  Mollie  answered,  "  He's  in  Top 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  215 

Town  with  Miss  Pelican's  brother.  I  haven't  seen  him 
for  a  long  time.  I  wish  he  was  home."  The  remark, 
more  to  herself  than  her  questioner,  need  not  have  been 
so  disagreeable  to  the  gentleman  opposite.  Mollie  had 
forgotten  that  he  existed. 

"  Likely  he's  sick,"  said  Doppy,  with  a  view  to  conso 
lation,  while  Joe,  being  admonished  to  hush  by  a  poke 
from  Amos  under  the  table,  flushed  with  wrath,  and  ex 
claimed  : 

"  I  won't  keep  still !  I'll  talk  if  I  please,  darn  you  ! 
He's  her  feller.  Haven't  I  seen  'em  walking  together 
lots  o'  times,  when  I  went  by  begging  rags  of  old  woman 
McCross,  as  never  gave  me  a  thing  at  all  for  me  pains, 
bad  cess  to  her !  "  Having  done  her  worst,  she  escaped 
from  the  room. 

Then  succeeded  an  awful  pause,  broken  by  Doppy,  who 
exclaimed  apologetically,  "  Don't  mind  her ;  she  hain't  no 
manners  nohow,  an'  I'm  most  sure  she  was  drunk." 

"  I  wouldn't  feel  bad  about  losing  my  little  secret," 
suggested  Peace  with  profound  malice  ;  "  such  trumpery 
is  like  the  ointment  of  a  man's  right  hand  which  betray  - 
eth  itself." 

tc  It  has  never  been  a  secret,"  said  Mollie,  a  trifle 
haughtily,  the  rude  exposure  of  her  inmost  springs  of 
act  and  feeling  seeming  almost  like  a  public  shame  put 
on  her.  "  I  supposed  all  the  world  knew  that  I  intend 
to  be  Mr.  Allwood's  wife." 

Peace  could  not  resist  a  second  glance  at  Francis  Hay- 
thorne,  whose  cheek  showed  a  slight  flush,  as  well  as  the 
tips  of  his  small,  shell-like  ears ;  but  his  eyes  met  hers 
with  their  usual  serenity. 

"  Did  you  say  you  were  going  to  wash  the  dishes,  Miss 
Pelican  ?  "  in  an  insinuating  query. 

"  Your  noblest  natures  are   most  credulous,"  she  re- 


216  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

torted,  curving  her  handsome  lip,  disgusted.  Then 
her  eyes  began  to  dance :  "  Prithee,  peace  ! "  in  a 
taunting  tone.  "  I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man  ; 
who  dare  do  more  is  none ; "  and  handed  him  the  dish- 
towel,  which  he  held  as  if  he  expected  it  to  explode. 

This  is  the  way  some  small  sprinkle  of  fate  reduces  to 
smoke  our  delicate  catherine-wheels,  rockets,  and  fiery 
crowns  and  daggers  :  all  rough  imitations  of  the  star  of 
true  love  revolving  close  and  constant  about  the  great 
beneficent  source  of  flame.  Or  if,  as  the  liberal  reader  may 
insist,  they  be  imitations  rather  of  Mars  than  Venus,  still, 
inasmuch  as  any  real  ambition,  be  it  warlike  or  peace 
ful,  is  still  a  matter  of  true  love,  I  beg  leave  to  retain  the 
figure.  But  the  discolored  flame  of  fancy,  evanescent — 
of  no  more  substantial  source  than  a  quarter  teaspoonful 
of  strontium  burned  in  a  few  grains  of  gunpowder — bears 
little  resemblance  to  the  torch  of  affection.  Mr.  Hay- 
thorne  found  so  excellent  consolation  in  this  reductio  ad 
veram,  that  in  a  week  he  wondered  how  he  could  ever 
have  wasted  so  much  good  time  about  such  unprofitable 
pyrotechnics,  and,  before  a  fortnight  passed,  observed 
many  things  in  his  former  admiration  that  could  be 
altered  for  the  better. 

Dishes  being  at  last  put  away  under  Miss  Pelican's 
directions,  they  played,  "  Button,  button ;  who's  got  the 
button  ?  "  and  Doppy  never  went  empty-handed  when  it 
was  Amos'  turn  to  say  "  Hold  fast." 

Peace  moved  about  the  homely  room  stately  as  a  fir-tree, 
and  Mr.  Haythorne  noticed  her  fascinating  ways  and  be 
wildering  eyes  with  new  interest — the  interest  of  appro 
priation.  She  was  in  the  mood  for  "  sharpening  her  toma 
hawk,"  she  told  Mollie,  and  his  Sybarite  inertia  was 
very  provoking.  So  they  played  a  beautiful  scene  of 
exquisitely  refined  flirtation  in  high  life  all  the  evening, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  217 

which  Doppy  and  Amos  admii-ecl  very  much,  and  Miss 
Mulligan  more  and  more  regretted  Joe's  flight  from  the 
whole  premises,  and  consequent  loss  of  the  improving 
spectacle.  For  Joe's  ideal  already  diverged  almost  to 
polarity  from  her  mate's,  and  this  was  a  grief  to  Doppy. 

Mollie  didn't  care  at  all  about  her  admirer's  desertion, 
but  sat  smiling  and  happy,  reading  motto-papers  to  the 
delighted  Amos,  who  looked  and  felt  all  arms  and  legs, 
saying  pleasant  things  to  Doppy  nestling  fondly  to  her 
side,  and  bestowing  an  occasional  approving  glance  upon 
Peace  and  her  recreant  knight,  absolutely  unconscious 
that  she  ought  to  feel  hurt.  She  felt  able,  and  liked  to 
please,  in  her  simple,  earnest  fashion ;  but  coquetry  in  its 
lightest  form  was  a  riddle  to  her.  The  extenuation  is  at 
hand — Louis  was  hers ;  Louis  was  all  she  asked. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  evening,  Peace  whispered  con 
fidentially  to  Mollie,  who  thereupon  proposed  to  play  a 
new  game,  and  blindfolded  Doppy.  Miss  Pelican  handed 
out  a  trifle  of  a  kerchief,  and  pointed  to  Amos.  But 
Mr.  Haythorne  protested  that  he  could  easily  look  it  into 
shreds,  and  producing  a  cambric  monstrosity,  the  size  of 
a  small  table-cloth,  tied  it  about  the  boy's  head  with 
impressive  solemnity. 

"All's  dark  and  comfortless.  Where's  my  son 
Edmond?"  he  cried,  in  a  menacing  tone. 

If  you  want  to  give  people  a  sense  of  perfect  helpless 
ness,  take  away  their  eyes.  Doesn't  Aldritch  •  say  so  ? 
Accordingly  our  ruffling  Amos  was  meek  as  a  lamb.  "  I 
don't  know,  sir,"  he  made  humble  answer. 

This  tickled  Peace  into  continuing  the  farce.  "  Dost 
thou  squiny  at  me  ?  "  she  exclaimed  in  a  hollow  voice. 
l(  I  remember  thine  eyes  well  enough.  No  !  do  thy  worst, 
blind  Cupid,  I'll  not  love." 

"  I'm  not  doin'  nothin',"  said  Amos,  turning  pale. 
10 


218  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  What  be  yces  about  there  ?  If  ye  say  much  more,  I'll 
snip  this  darned  blinder  off,  n'  leave." 

After  a  brief  season  of  twitching  and  turning,  pinning 
and  laughing  mysteriously,  and  pulling  off  and  putting 
on,  the  knotted  muslin  was  unfastened  from  the  subjects' 
heads,  and  their  metamorphosis  became  apparent  to  them 
selves.  To  be  sure,  Mr.  Haythorne,  hampered  by  the 
difficulties  of  the  case,  had  only  pinned  Amos'  new  shirts 
on  behind,  and  sus'pended  the  trousers  in  front,  but  that 
was  no  consequence.  As  for  Doppy,  one  would  not  wish 
to  see  a  fairer  sight  than  she  presented  in  her  dainty 
dress  and  jaunty  straw,  from  beneath  which  her  curls 
strayed  in  so  charming  confusion. 

"  My  !  "  said  Amos.  tf  By  hooky,  ain't  you  sweet- 
lookin' ! " 

"  Give  us  a  rest !  "  retorted  Doppy.  "  Your  own 
mother'd  mistake  you  fur  an  up-town  chap,  just  you  wance 
git  inside  them  things." 

Then  she  threw  her  arms  about  Mollie's  neck,  minded 
equally  to  kiss  or  cry  ;  seeing  which,  Mr.  Haythorne  hid 
himself  behind  a  door  lest  Amos  should  do  likewise.  He 
needn't  have  taken  the  pains,  however,  for  those  hand 
some  garments  seemed  to  have  transformed  rough,  blunt 
Master  Daley.  He  eyed  them  wistfully,  hands  in  pockets, 
as  they  lay  in  a  pile  on  a  chair,  where  they  had  been  put 
in  the  general  excitement  of  pleasant  bustle  ;  then,  with  a 
final  furtive  grab,  slid  from  the  room,  to  reappear  in  full 
bloom  of  elegance. 

"  How  is  your  health,  Miss  Dorothea  ?  "  said  he,  in  the 
diffidence  of  modest  propriety,  advancing  with  unwonted 
grace ;  "  n'  may  I  have  the  honor  of  seein'  ye  to  the 
minstrels'  Monday  night?  We'll  have  a  parquette seat." 

"  Yis,  certainly,"  replied  she,  with  equal  dignity.  "  It 
would  give  me  great  pleasure ; — ain't  them  the  words, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  219 

Miss  Mollie  ?  0  Amos  !  it  pays  to  be  respectable,  don't 
it  ?  And  yon  mind  I  was  right  about  the  white  cloes." 
Theu  she  laid  her  little  red  hand  in  her  friend's  lap. 
"  You  mustn't  ever  mind  Amos,  Miss  McCross ;  he's 
rough,  but  he  means  well,  and  we've  made  it  up  together 
always  to  do  just  as  you  say ;  "  which  is  the  Celtic  idea  of 
gratitude. 

Much  to  his  astonishment,  Francis  Haythorne  had 
enjoyed  the  affair  hugely.  He  was  a  trifle  ashamed  of  it, 
too;  and  told  Peace  by  way  of  apology,  as  they  went 
home  that  night,  that  ennui  as  well  as  wit  sometimes 
tempts  a  man  to  play  the  fool  with  great  courage. 

"  That  remark  makes  me  add  vanity  to  the  list,"  she 
retorted  pointedly. 

"  You  are  unkind,"  said  he,  blushing  to  the  roots  of  his 
auburn  hair.  "  I  really  think  with  Goethe,  one  is  only 
properly  alive  when  he  seeks  the  good  wishes  of  others." 

"  And  I,  with  myself,  that  no  man  is  to  be  so  much 
despised  as  he  who  is  ashamed  of  his  own  virtues." 

"  My  idea  was,  that  out  of  so  many  I  could  afford  to 
cut  off  a  few,"  he  averred,  with  outward  effrontery,  and 
inward  wrath. 

"  On  the  contrary,  I'd  smoke  those  I  had  left  in  hope 
of  their  preservation,"  pui-sued  Peace  malignantly,  re 
solved  that  the  contemplated  cigar  should  be  no  calm  to 
his  ruffled  soul. 

"  Goethe  says  nothing  to  the  point,"  he  replied,  strik 
ing  a  lucifer  on  his  knee,  and  preparing  to  light  the  odor 
ous  Habana  between  his  handsome  lips. 

"  Yes,  he  does  !  "  blowing  out  the  match,  as  he  shel 
tered  it  in  his  hollowed  hand.  "  He  says  every  one  has 
something  in  his  nature  which,  if  openly  expressed, 
would  insure  dislike,  and  that's  you  when  you  fume. 
Now,  how  are  your  little  feelings  ?  " 


220  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"I   can   only   fling  away  my  comforter,  and   protest 
with  John  Knox  against  the  awful  regiment  of  women." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  Pussy  said  to  the  owl, 
'You  elegant  fowl'" 

| HE  season  in  Top  Town  promised  to  open  very 
brilliantly.  Charley,  indeed,  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  have  nothing  less  than  a  masqueiude. 

"  Snooks  and  Sneezers !  "  said  he,  in  confidence  to 
Louis,  who  was  for  the  time  being  restored  to  favor, 
"  why  should  one  wait  till  one's  all  fagged  out  with 
gayety  and  ready  to  bust  for  two  and  a  half,  before  one 
ventures  on  the  best  thing  of  all  ?  We  won't,  my  gentle 
swain." 

Accordingly  Peace  was  written  to,  and  she,  in  her 
turn,  summoned  Francis  Haythorne,  and  Mollie,  and 
Susie  Jenkens  and  her  father.  Mrs.  McCross  wouldn't 
hear  of  her  daughter's  complying,  but  the  others  were 
glad  to  accept  the  invitation. 

Peace,  whose  mission  it  was  to  improve  Charley,  lost 
no  time  in  taking  him  aside  and  bestowing  a  little  sis 
terly  criticism.  "  Please  to  be  as  quiet  as  possible,  and, 
above  all,  don't  neglect  your  table  manners,"  said  she.  "  I 
don't  want  the  idea  carried  back  to  Millville  that  we  live 
in  a  wigwam.  The  other  day,  I  know,  I  saw  you  put 
something  into  your  mouth  with  your  knife,  and  I've 
often  spoken  to  you  about  your  right  elbow,  which  you 
frequently  lean  on  the  table.  For  mercy's  sake,  don't !  " 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  221 

As  a  matter  of  course,  Mr.  Pelican  shut  his  left  eye  flat, 
and  executed  an  ominous  wink  with  the  other.  "  Teach 
your  grandmother  !  "  cried  he.  "  That  snip  of  a  Herr  is 
the  root  of  all  this  anxiety.  I'll  lay  myself  out  to  show 
the  family  breeding,  dear,  don't  be  afraid ; "  and  there 
upon  ran  off  without  more  ado. 

The  Top  Town  Dancing  Academy  Hall  was  hired  on 
account  of  its  tiny  gallery,  so  nice  for  viewing  the 
dresses  ;  and  all  the  elite  were  borrowing  costume-books 
at  the  Institute,  and  Hazeltine's  picture-gallery  was  be 
sieged  for  foreign  prints.  Wigs,  trussing  points,  padding 
legs,  and  choosing  knee-breeches  were  objects  of  para 
mount  importance  to  the  male  youth,  while  gauze  wings, 
trains,  wire  masks,  and  rosettes  upon  infinitesimal  slip 
pers  were  of  similar  weight  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
fairer  sex. 

The  Millville  people  arrived  in  season  for  tea,  and 
Francis  Haythorne  met  Louis  for  the  first  time.  It  took 
only  two  minutes  to  bring  them  together  at  the  piano. 
Once  there,  Louis'  perfectly  delicate  and  tender  legato 
touch  wrung  praise  for  his  adagios  from  the  critic,  in 
spite  of  himself,  and  Francis  Haythorne,  who  had  the 
pearl-like  execution  of  Hummel's  students,  and  yet  de 
spised  Hummel,  played  Liszt's  fantasias  till  Louis  was 
radiant  with  enthusiasm.  They  had  begun  improvising 
together  in  true  brotherly  fashion,  although  the  doctor's 
style  herein  was  labored,  when  Charley  beckoned  Louis 
away. 

"  It's  tea-time  now !  "  was  Absalom's  vexed  exclama 
tion.  "  My  cake  is  all  dough  !  There's  my  costume — 
that  magnificent  devil,"  pointing  to  a  sable  heap  of  horns, 
bats'  pinions,  and  hoofs  lying  in  a  chair.  "  If  you  don't 
help  me,  I'm  ruined.  Gizzard  has  found  out  about  it, 
and  told  every  one  it's  my  rig.  Just  change  with  me. 


222  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

I  know  your  robes  and  mantle  will  go.  There's  a 
friend." 

"  No,  they  will  not,"  said  Louis,  ptilling  over  Satan's 
skin  ;  "  they  wouldn't  cover  your  shoulders.  The  idea 
of  your  prinking  yourself  as  Jeremiah  !  This  is  a  very 
complete  devil.  I'll  tell  you  what :  if  you  choose  to  loan 
him  to  me,  I'll  fix  you  up  a  nobby  thing.  You  must  go 
down-town  and  get  a  complete  set  of  flesh- colored  tights, 
five  or  six  woolly  sheepskins,  a  quantity  of  doll-babies 
to  hang  by  the  hair  at  your  belt,  sandals,  a  huge  club, 
and  that  one-eyed  mask  we  were  looking  at  this  morning, 
with  a  long  beard  attached  coming  down  below  your 
waist.  The  cloak  and  breeches  will  be  of  the  rough 
hides.  Won't  that  be  a  divine  Polyphemus  ?  '  Mon- 
strum  horrendum  informe  ingens  cui  lumen  ademptum  ?  ' 
Remember  ?  " 

"  Exactly,"  said  Charley,  with  brightening  face.  "  I'll 
make  a  meal  of  any  one  that  denies  it.  Just  what  that 
old  Gospel-grinder  dubbed  me  that  night.  What  a  lark 
it  was  !  This  is  the  tucker." 

So  it  was  settled ;  and  Louis  had  the  oddest  sensation 
of  casting  off  his  identity  when  he  donned  his  satanic 
garb,  with  its  great,  round  red  and  yellow  eyes,  a  forked 
tail  that  trailed  on  the  ground  and  could  be  made  to 
switch  by  pulling  two  tapes,  immense  branching  horns, 
a  goat's  beard,  cloven  hoof,  claw  gloves,  and  a  pair  of 
bats'  wings  big  enough  for  Icarus'  aerial  flight,  not  to 
mention  the  equally  unfortunate  excursion  of  Darius 
Green. 

He  was  even  sorry  to  defer  the  pleasure  of  assuming 
the  new  personality  till  after  supper,  and,  descending  to 
the  table,  he  found  Peace  equally  excited.  She  was  care 
lessly  arrayed  in  a  loose  crimson  neglige,  which  enhanced 
the  brilliancy  of  her  face  ;  her  jetty  hair,  twisted  into  a 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  223 

knot,  had  half  slipped  from  its  fastenings  and  uncoiled  in 
all  its  richness  upon  her  shoulders  as  she  conversed 
eagerly  with  the  immaculately  clad  physician,  who  was 
toying  with  his  dish  of  Louisiana  figs. 

Dr.  Jenkens  was  talking  about  specie  payment  with 
Mr.  Pelican,  senior,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  table,  and 
Susie  sat  watching  the  handsome  Absalom  opposite  her, 
•whom  she  met  for  the  first  time  since  childhood,  as  he 
was  always  Jan  Vedder's  guest  in  Millville,  and  never 
called  at  her  home. 

"  So  you  do  not  think  me  like  a  rose  or  a  hyacinth  or  a 
violet  or  a  tulip,"  Peace  was  saying  a  little  anxiously ; 
the  fire  in  her  intoxicating  eyes  and  the  flush  on  her 
damask  cheek  brighter  than  usual,  as  always  when  she 
was  coquetting. 

"No,"  he  answered,  watching  her,  fascinated  ;  "lean- 
not  say  so  with  truth.  That  gorgeous  spike  of  flowers 
in  the  vase  yonder,  so  upright — majestically  haughty — is 
more  akin  to  you." 

"Oh!  gladiolus,"  cried  Peace,  smiling  at  some  inner 
agreement  of  wish.  "  I  am  quite  satisfied  with  the  simile. 

"  Not  gladiolus,  but  gladius,"  laughed  he.  "  You  are 
no  little  sword.  I  was  sure  the  scarlet  beauty  was  one 
with  you  in  that  keen,  trenchant  quality  of  which  I  have 
so  often  been  the  victim.  Pray,  tie  such  a  knot  over 
your  domino  that  I  may  be  on  my  guard  to-night." 

"  As  derivations  are  in  order,  I  do  not  arrogate  to  my 
self  the  pretensions  of  a  domino,"  said  Peace.  "  But  I 
detect  the  aspiration  in  you — do  you  wear  the  favor  ?  for 
I  own  no  lord,  nor  ever  will." 

"  You  are  keeping  Mr.  Haythorne  from  his  supper," 
said  Mrs.  Pelican.  "  He  eats  nothing  at  all.  Louis,  is 
there  anything  German  doctors  fancy  ?  " 

"They  are  fond  of  snails  and  cockchafers,"  answered 


224:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

the  one  appealed  to,  laughing.  "  Is  it  not  almonds  that 
they  taste  like  ?  " 

"  We  paid  the  children  for  picking  the  beetles  from  the 
fruit-trees  so  many  groschen  a  dozen — I  forget  the  price 
— and  they  ate  them  themselves.  I  never  touched  one." 

"  Peace  might  produce  her  caterpillar,"  said  Charley, 
on  purpose  to  be  tormenting.  Then  haviug  gained  the 
attention  of  the  company,  he  began  to  air  the  forbidden 
table  manners.  "Did  you  ever  try  catches?"  addressing 
the  dainty  Haythorne  affably.  "  This,  for  example," 
drumming  with  his  knife-handle.  "  He  can  do  little  who 
can't  do  this."  As  he  had  been  showing  Susie  how  to 
drop  a  napkin-ring  from  his  closed  fingers,  and  divers 
similar  tricks,  every  one  was  interested  to  attempt  the 
puzzle,  and  a  prodigious  clatter  ensued.  "  The  silver 
moon  goes  round  and  round"  was  next  brought  for 
ward,  in  spite  of  Peace's  frowns ;  and  then  Absalom  pro 
duced  his  best  card,  and  asked  Susie  Jenkens  if  she  had 
ever  heard  the  "  Chorus  of  Fiends." 

"  Oh,  no  !  How  is  it  ?  Do  give  it,"  was  the  inevita 
ble  answer. 

"  It's  nothing  without  Peace  :  she  invented  it.  I've 
taught  Louis,  but  it  needs  three.  It  won't  go  off  without 
her  help.  She  leads,  you  know." 

"  No  indeed  !  "  cried  his  sister  tartly,  vexed  as  much  as 
he  wished.  "I  hoped  you'd  outgrown  such  nonsense." 

"  Hopes  are  deceitful,"  responded  Charley,  with  a 
wink  of  aggravation. 

"  Do,  I  want  to  hear  it,"  begged  Susie,  curious  ;  and 
Francis  Haythorne  endeavored  to  be  polite  by  emphasiz 
ing  the  request.  Even  Dr.  Jenkens  looked  interested. 
There  was  no  escape  without  rudeness  to  her  guests. 
Peace  covered  her  wrath  with  a  smile,  and  the  perform 
ers  counted  "  one,  two,  three,"  on  their  fingers.  When 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  225 

the  time  had  been  well  marked  thus  silently,  they  burst 
into  a  triad  of  sepulchral  ha !  ha  !  ha's ! 

Mr.  Pelican,  who,  absorbed  in  the  money  question, 
hadn't  noticed  anything  that  had  been  going  on,  now 
started  up  at  the  horrid  racket,  exclaiming,  "  What's 
that?" 

"Your  daughter's  serenade,"  said  Francis  Haythorne, 
and  unawares  avenged  Charley,  which  he  wouldn't  for  the 
world  have  done  willingly. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pelican  were  going  to  keep  Dr.  Jen- 
kens  company  as  the  Boffins.  The  good  physician  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  indulge  the  wish  of  his  lifetime,  and 
personate  William  Tell,  his  boyhood's  hero.  The  various 
members  of  the  family  being  quite  as  anxious  to  remain 
unknown  to  each  other,  as  the  world  at  large,  made 
quite  a  procession  of  carriages.  First  came  the  married 
people,  then  Peace  and  Susie,  last  Charley  and  Louis. 
Francis  Haythorne  had  started  previously  in  search  of 
a  friend,  a  certain  German,  Dr.  Max,  who  he  heard  was 
in  town.  The  lights  at  the  ceiling  of  the  pretty  hall 
were  reflected  upon  as  brilliant  and  grotesque  a  scene  as 
culture,  taste,  money,  and  love  of  pleasure  could  devise. 
Louis,  attired  in  his  fiendish  costume,  found  himself  con 
fronted  by  at  least  a  dozen  of  his  race.  There  was  a 
devil  in  shining  golden  scales  with  amethystine  horns ; 
there  were  two  fine  bronze  devils,  and  one  veritable  poet's 
Satan,  with  red  coat  and  blue  breeches.  Moreover,  a  blue 
bottle  fly  was  at  hand,  with  a  velocipede — certainly  young 
Gizzard. 

A  white,  muslin-robed  immortality  with  gauze  wings, 
and  a  butterfly,  fluttered  about  with  St.  Agnes  in  blanche 
merino,  bearing  a  lamb.  Jan  Vedder,  as  Sycorax,  bore 
a  small  Roman  matron  on  his  arm,  who  proved  to  be 
bis  mother.  A  colony  of  frogs  and  mice  strutted  here 
10* 


226  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

and  there  as  perfect  as  real  denizens  of  pond  and  field ; 
while  old  Mr.  Gizzard,  gotten  up  as  a  Bologna  sausage, 
and  Hazeltine  the  picture-dealer,  as  the  ace  of  spades, 
lent  character  to  the  company. 

Charley  himself  made  a  magnificent  Polyphemus.  He 
expanded  his  chest,  swung  his  dolls,  flourished  his  club, 
and  stalked  about,  glaring  through  his  huge  eye  as  to 
the  manner  born. 

Every  one  was  flitting  about  guessing  the  identity  of 
the  disguised,  and  examining  the  costumes.  Laughter 
and  jokes  were  everywhere  heard,  and  the  oft-remarked 
peculiarity  of  masquerades — that  no  one  ever  wears  the 
character  that  might  have  been  expected — was  evident 
here  in  Top  Town  as  elsewhere.  The  band  played 
Verdi's  bal-masque  music.  The  atmosphere  was  per 
fumed,  the  hum  of  merry  human  voices  thrilled  through 
the  ail',  and  Louis  took  in  the  ensemble  with  an  eager 
delight.  It  satisfied  his  imagination ;  he  felt  as  if  he 
must  be  dreaming.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  recogniz 
ing  his  own  household.  William  Toll's  blue  blouse  did 
not  ill  assort  with  the  professional  manner  of  good  Dr. 
Jenkens,  to  be  sure,  nor  did  benevolent  Mr.  Pelican 
make  a  poor  golden  dustman.  But  his  wife,  a  very,  very 
timid  Mrs.  Boffin,  had  already  sunk  into  a  corner  beside 
Jan  Vedder's  Roman  mother,  where  the  two  found  pleas 
ure  enough  in  watching  their  children.  Never  was  there 
a  plumper,  sweeter  Fieur  de  The"  than  Susie  Jenkens, 
who  was  walking  about  on  the  arm  of  a  magnificent 
Teuton  with  yellow  eyes  like  smoky  topazes.  Keeping 
out  of  the  range  of  these  worthies,  and  totally  occupied 
with  each  other,  were  a  pair  of  revellers,  whose  superb 
costumes  made  them  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes. 

The  lady, — a  gladiolus, — over  a  green  petticoat  of 
quilted  satin,  embroidered  down  the  front  with  tiny  golden 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  227 

tassels,  wore  a  crimson  silk  train,  cut  in  five  pointed  gores, 
each  finished  as  perfectly  as  a  gladiolus  petal.  Her  belt 
of  pale  yellow  satin  supported  a  golden  network  hang 
ing  in  five  tasselled  points  over  the  scarlet, — as  the  yel 
low  heart  of  the  gladiolus  melts  into  its  ruddier  tints.  The 
waist  was  likewise  made  of  gladiolus  petals,  so  disposed 
that  the  shortest  came  in  front,  showing  her  smooth  neck 
in  a  sort  of  heart-shaped  cutting.  The  sleeves,  barely  to 
the  elbow,  were  gladiolus  flowers,  and  their  flaunting  cur 
tain  displayed  her  well-turned  arms,  albeit  the  vicious 
little  scolding-bone  was  there,  though  rather  as  a  sugges 
tion  than  a  fault.  On  her  head  perched  a  satin  hat — the 
same  flower  inverted  over  the  blue-black  tresses,  that, 
braided  with  green  ribbons  and  gladiolus  blooms,  strayed 
below  her  girdle.  There  were  more  of  these  flowers  fas 
tened  by  massive  gold  bracelets  upon  her  wrists,  and  she 
wore  them  at  her  bosom,  in  her  belt  against  her  slender 
waist.  At  her  side  hung  a  sword-scabbard,  formed  of  the 
martial  leaf;  a  superb  curving  spray  of  the  knightly 
blossom  even  finished  her  hat  as  a  plume.  She  was  in 
deed  a  flower  personified. 

Her  attendant  was  Goethe,  exactly  as  he  stood  in  the 
famous  suit  of  pike  gray  with  gold  lace  in  which  he  bade 
farewell  to  Frederika.  He  wore  stockings,  shoes,  and  a 
brown  powdered  bag-wig,  to  which  was  affixed  a  queue ; 
carried  his  three-cornei'ed  hat  under  his  arm,  and, 
hanging  by  his  side,  he,  too,  bore  a  short  sword.  Art 
had  aided  nature  in  producing  the  noble  swelling  chest, 
and  pencilled  delicately  the  lines  necessary  to  add  Goethe's 
immense  brown  eyes — for  he  wore  no  mask.  His  own 
complexion  was  quite  as  brilliant  as  the  bard's,  and  con 
stant  dwelling  on  his  master's  thoughts  had  uncon 
sciously  added  to  the  student's  every-day  manner  some 
what  of  his  dignity.  In  short,  it  did  not  need  the  exquis- 


228  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

ite  bracelet  of  cameo  heads  of  Lili,  Lotta,  Frederika, 
Ottalie,  Mignon,  Frau  von  Stein,  and  Christiane  Vul- 
pius,  which  he  wore,  where  the  Herr  Geheimrath  once 
bore  his  order  of  nobility,  to  i-eveal  his  character. 

Louis  hastened  toward  them  at  once,  but  his  poet 
shrank  away.  "  Avaunt !  "  said  he,  "  thou  common 
place  devil !  Mephistopheles  is  the  only  imp  I  acknowl 
edge  as  correct." 

' '  Du  versuchst,  O  Sonne,  vergebens 
Durch  die  duestern  Wolken  zuscheinen,"  * 

retorted  Louis,  in  the  soft  but  pure  accent  of  Middle 
Germany,  which  he  had  contrived  to  pick  up  Heaven 
knows  where.  "  I  must  remain  the  fiend  I  was  born.  I 
thought  Goethe  too  wise  to  attempt  reforming  the  devil." 

"  I  certainly  stand  corrected,"  rejoined  the  poet.  "  I 
do  indeed  believe  in  the  metamorphosis  of  plants — but 
not  devils." 

"  Kennst  du  das  Land  ?  "  interrupted  the  gladiolus  un 
easily.  "  That  is  the  only  German  I  have  at  hand.  If 
you  must  talk  in  foreign  gibberish,  do  address  me." 

' '  Ich  denke   dein,  wenn  mir  der  Sonne  sohimmer  im   Meere 

strahlt ; 
Ich  denke  dein,  wenn  sich  des  Mondes  Schimmer  in  Quellen 

mahlt. 

Ich  bin  bei  dir ;  du  sei'st  auch  noch  so  fern,  du  bist  mir  nah. 
De  Sonne  sinkt,  es  leuchten  mir  die  Sterne, —  0  !  waist  du 

da!" 

obeyed  Goethe  with  characteristic  gallantry,  and  smiling. 

The  flower  shrugged  her  shoulders,  dissatisfied.  "  Is 
he  talking  the  poet,  or  himself,  and  what's  he  saying  ?  " 

"  You  shouldn't  appeal  to  the  foul  fiend,"  retoi'ted  the 

*  In  vain,  0  sun  !  thou  strugglest  through  dark  clouds. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  229 

versifier.  "  Ask  me.  I  spoke  the  sentiments  of  my 
heart  in  the  language  of  Wolfgang  Von  Goethe.  But  I 
decline  to  translate,  and  should  this  devil  meddle,  let  him 
beware.  I'll  vibrate  toward  Christianity,  and  adopt  St. 
Anthony  and  the  good  St.  Dunstan  for  exemplars." 

tl  Just  tell  me,"  persisted  Louis,  "  now  you've  come 
back  to  earth,  whose  theory  of  optics  is  correct." 

"  Avaunt !  "  retorted  his  opponent  indignantly. 
"  The  only  discovery  I  take  pride  in  is  the  identity  of  this 
enchanting  gladiolus.  Get  thee  hence  !  You  have  suffi 
ciently  proved  that  you  are  clad  according  to  the  proper 
blazonry  of  nature." 

"  True  enough,"  acknowledged  Louis,  falling  into 
speculation.  "  I  no  sooner  donned  it,  than  I  felt  myself 
suddenly  free  of  the  restrictions  binding  upon  plain 
Louis  Allwood.  I  knew  myself  able  to  do,  be,  expe 
rience  anything  and  all  I  liked.  Within  this  satanic 
mask  a  thousand  impulses,  all  my  life  sedulously  repressed, 
have  reasserted  themselves.  More  than  this,  this  whole 
evening  suggestions  of  action  completely  out  of  my 
habit — as  I  have  heretofore  supposed,  my  nature— have 
been  pursuing  me.  I  am  half  afraid  of  myself." 

"  All  that  frees  otir  spirit  and  does  not  yield  us  self- 
control,  is  injurious,"  said  Goethe,  interested. 

"  If  I  was  unknown,  responsible  to  none  but  myself 
in  this  odd  mental  chaos, — which  would  then  be  a  con 
viction  that  I  had  no  reputation  to  sustain,"  went  on 
Louis, — "  I  wonder  what  I  would  do !  That  must  be  the 
exact  state  of  mind  held  by  blacklegs." 

"  I  have  often  reflected  that  any  system  which  lessens 
the  sense  of  responsibility  bearing  upon  any  class  of 
individuals,  no  matter  in  what  direction,  or  which  class, 
is  absolutely  injurious,"  answered  Francis  Haythorne. 
"  Why,  what  worse  word  does  language  contain  than 


230  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

irresponsible  ?  No ;  only  the  pressure  of  individual  need 
matures  conscience,  and  since  conscience  is  simple  recog 
nition  of  law,  and,  to  return  to  my  character,  '  only 
within  the  circle  of  law  is  the  fullest  development  of 
liberty  possible,'  hence  it  follows  that  the  more  labor 
and  anxiety  is  put  upon  an  acting  people,  the  higher 
types  of  excellence  they  will  manifest." 

"  This  is  certainly  the  diet  of  snails  and  cockchafers 
you  longed  for,"  cried  the  disgusted  gladiolus,  a  second 
time  forgotten.  "  Methinks  I'd  like  a  bottle  of  hay 
for  company."  She  was  abetted  by  the  velocipede, 
which  dashed  toward  the  group,  scattering  it  to  right  and 
left.  Flying  before  its  dangerous  parabolas,  Louis  stum 
bled  against  an  umbrella. 

"  It  never  rains  but  it  pours,"  said  the  mask,  with  a 
lisp  certainly  Cabby's.  "  But  for  pity's  sake  keep  your 
pinions  out  of  my  stretchers.  I  always  heard  that  the 
devil  longed  for  a  drop  of  water.  Will  you  be  kind 
enough  to  turn  a  little,  or  you'll  hook  Abraham  Lincoln. 
You  have  samples  of  all  the  costumes  on  your  prongs.  " 

"  Ship  ahoy  !  shiver  my  toplights !  lend  me  thine 
implement!"  said  the  Cyclop,  coming  up,  and  hoisting 
poor  Umbrella  on  his  shoulder  as  easily  as  one  would  a 
kitten.  "  Snooks  and  sneezers !  how  did  you  leave  the 
Son  of  Heaven?  It  is  time  to  rescue  Fleur  de  The 
from  that  leonine  German.  He  has  what  I  call  phy 
sique  !  Come,  umbrellas  are  certainly  as  near  relations  as 
Chinamen  have ;  go  and  do  the  paternal.  Fee,  fi,  fo,  fum ! 
I  smell  roast  meat'!  I  say,  Satan,"  abruptly  dropping 
Cabby,  who  hurried  to  make  good  his  escape,  "I  vote  this 
mighty  slow.  I've  waltzed  with  two  fellows  by  mistake, 
and  Martha  Washington  asked  me  plainly  if  the  Latin 
liquors  hadn't  gone  to  my  head.  Gizzard's  so ;  when  we 
asked  him  to  say  *  There  was  a  piper,'  he  got  as  far  as 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  231 

'  consider  cow,'  and  then  went  on  '  tehider  tow,  tehider 
tow,  tehider  tow,  tehider  tow,'  and  for  the  life  of  him 
couldn't  hit  the  way  to  stop.  Let's  have  a  quadrille 
together.  I'm  a  little  too  happy  to  ask  a  lady,  myself." 

"  What  do  Germans  do  when  they  are  merry  ?  "  asked 
Susie  of  her  yellow-eyed  companion,  filing  into  the  quad 
rille  places  opposite  Polyphemus  and  the  devil. 

"  They  sing  sad  songs,"  he  answered,  "  like  this :  The 
morning  is  red ;  yesterday  I  was  on  a  brave  horse,  to-day 
I  am  shot,  to-morrow  I  am  in  the  grave." 

"  How  hilarious  !  "  said  gladiolus,  taking  the  head  side- 
couple  with  Goethe.  "  How  did  you  come  to  know  Mr. 
Haythorne  ?  " 

"  We  belonged  to  the  same  Kneipe  at  Heidelburg — 
we  went  over  the  river  every  Saturday  night,  and 
smoked  late  as  we  liked."  The  new-comer  had  a  very 
pleasant,  simple  manner,  and  spoke  with  polish  and  ease. 

"  Tell  me  truly,  did  you  ever  drink  too  much  ?  Honor 
bright,  I  am  not  curious.  I  have  a  reason."  Poor 
gladiolus  was  very  eager ;  her  voice  showed  it.  Goethe 
leaned  back  upon  the  piano  carelessly,  and  seemed  lazy 
and  amused. 

"  Honor  bright,  then,  T  sometimes  might,"  owned  Dr. 
Max  in  his  pretty  foreign  accent ;  "  but  your  partner,  so 
insouciant  yonder,  never  did.  His  head  is  as  hard  as  a 
stone,  and,  besides,  he  was  a  good  mother's  boy.  Weren't 
you,  Franz  ?  " 

Peace  didn't  quite  know  whether  to  be  pleased  or  not 
at  this  revelation;  especially  as  the  poet  gave  a  little 
sniff  in  answer  that  might  mean  assent  or  anger  or 
triumph  or  contempt.  She  therefore  kept  silence,  and 
observed  Susie's  idea  of  sustaining  a  conversation,  which 
seemed  to  be  the  asking  of  questions. 

"  Oh,  yea !   we  had  gay  times  at  Heidelburg.     We  went 


232  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  our  museum  ball  every  year,  and  danced  in  fancy 
dress.  The  year  Franz  was  there  there  was  a  very  fine 
mask.  We  had  the  court  dancing-master  from  Hesse 
Cassel  to  teach  us  this  old  potpourri  that  we  gave.  It 
was  a  cotillon  performed  once  a  year  at  this  court,  and 
combined  minuets,  sarabands,  and  what  not.  There  were 
five  sets.  In  the  centre  of  the  room  was  Shakespeare : 
your  friend  was  Slender,  with  Annie  Page ;  at  each 
corner  of  the  set  was  another,  making  a  star.  The  first 
was  shepherds  and  swains;  the  second,  Scotch;  the  third, 
cavaliers  and  their  ladies.  I  was  in  the  fourth,  which 
was  in  the  costume  of  Henri  Quatre.  I  went  to  Vienna 
myself  after  the  print  containing  the  dresses." 

"  What  did  you  wear  ?  "  cried  both  ladies  at  once. 

"  Let  me  recollect.  Ah  !  I  have  it ;  the  couples  wore 
red,  yellow,  green,  and  blue,  respectively.  I  am  a  Sua- 
bian,  and  asked  my  partner  to  wear  my  national  color — 
orange.  She  was  a  very  obliging  young  American,  and 
consented.  We  exchanged  our  things  when  the  ball  was 
over,  I  remember.  The  ladies  wore  black  velvet  basques, 
with  fulness  at  the  back  in  a  little  frill,  and  the  front  all 
reversed  and  trimmed  from  throat  to  feet  with  slashes  of 
gold-colored  or  other  satin.  Their  petticoats  were  col 
ored,  too,  with  a  band  of  embroidery.  Their  sleeves  were 
slashed,  and  at  the  wrists  were  two  huge  muslin-like  puffs; 
and  they  wore  muslin  at  the  neck,  and  tiny  hats  and 
feathers,  and  gauntlets,  and  we  gentlemen  had  loose- 
topped  boots,  white  stockings,  breeches  slashed  and 
trimmed  with  lace,  doublets  slashed,  and  steeple  hats  with 
broad  brims,  and  plumes,  and  lace  collars.  We  all  came 
in  dancing  from  the  ante-room,  formed  in  sets  like  magic 
at  a  signal  we  knew  in  the  music.  But  Franz  kept  us 
very  late ;  he  was  waiting  for  his  hair  to  be  curled.  Then 
afterward  we  were  asked  to  a  party  to  dance  it  all  again, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  233 

at  tlie  house  where  our  set  practised,  and  there  the  ser 
vants,  dressed  as  clowns,  came  in  and  gave  us  bonbons, 
billet-doux,  and  the  like  from  we  knew  not  whom." 

This  was  so  nice  that  Peace  cast  a  discontented  glance 
over  the  gathering  there  present ;  but  she  had  ample  cause 
for  wrath  in  her  own  neighborhood.  William  Tell  danced 
with  Sycorax,  and  made  the  fourth  couple  finishing  the 
family  group,  and  all  went  wrong  in  the  quadrille.  Louia 
had  found  his  garb  extremely  inconvenient  throughout 
the  evening.  But  now  his  discomfort  amounted  to  posi 
tive  misery.  He  bowed  to  Fleur  de  The,  and  impaled 
her  on  his  antlers ;  he  squared  about  to  avoid  this,  and 
prodded  Francis  Haythorne  with  his  whalebone  wings. 
Sycorax  lost  no  opportunity  of  tripping  over  his  tail,  and 
every  one  was  saying,  "  Avaunt  thee,  wizard  ! "  "  Satan, 
avaunt !  "  "  Fly,  fiend !  "  «  Get  thee  hence,  devil !  "  till 
he  wished  himself  safely  underground.  Annoyed  quite 
out  of  his  presence  of  mind,  so  awkward  were  his  endeav 
ours  to  be  harmless  that  Jan  Yedder,  unconscious  of  his 
identity,  inquired  if  they  found  malt  liquors  keep  well  in. 
his  hot  cellar ;  and  William  Tell  wanted  to  know  if  he 
could  say  "  truly  rural."  The  evils  of  his  position  were 
heightened  by  the  antics  of  Polyphemus.  Though,  as  he 
owned,  not  over-steady  on  his  legs,  he  had  the  audacity 
to  indulge  in  cuts  two  at  a  time,  and  in  pigeon's  wings, 
and  varieties  of  heel-and-toe  step  unheard  of.  And,  worse 
than  all,  young  Gizzard,  quite  too  drunk  to  know  what  he 
was  about,  persisted  in  mounting  his  velocipede,  which 
he  had  carried  at  first  only  as  an  ornament,  and  heading 
into  every  one.  Peace's  face  was  a  study  of  hauteur, 
pain,  and  contempt  during  this  ridiculous  scene.  Francis 
Haythorne  watched  her  with  less  of  pity  than  curiosity, 
expecting  an  outbreak,  but  none  came.  Not  a  glance  at 
the  buffoon  acknowledged  mortification  or  interest  in  him ; 


234  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

and  in  the  pauses  of  the  dancing  she  looked  away  into  the 
centre  of  the  ball,  ignoring  her  surroundings  altogether,  a 
vivid  crimson  spot  on  each  cheek  and  a  slight  dilation  of 
her  delicate  nostrils  alone  confessing  emotion.  But  Pa 
risian  varieties  is  not  performed  in  a  moment,  and  when 
the  velocipede  dashed  among  them,  and,  but  for  a  grasp 
at  the  friendly  piano,  would  have  fallen  at  their  feet, 
Goethe  felt  her  light  touch  on  his  arm  tighten  to  an  un 
conscious  clutch  like  a  vice. 

"  Take  me  away,"  said  she,  her  voice  sharp  with  ner 
vous  tension  ;  "  I  am  ill.  Where  is  there  a  chair  ? 
Help  me  there." 

Louis  was  thankful  to  give  tip  the  set,  but  it  seemed 
like  his  blame  to  watch  the  poor  bruised  gladiolus  sink  on 
the  bench,  and  strive  in  vain  to  stifle  her  hot  rebellious 
tears.  Her  escort  quietly  placed  himself  in  conversational 
attitude,  and,  spreading  the  huge  scarlet  fan  she  wore  in 
her  scabbard,  shielded  their  faces  from  observation  while 
lie  waited  for  her  to  recover  her  composure  in  silence. 
He  was  a  man  who,  once  opening  the  gate  to  an  emotion, 
can  never  again  recall  it  to  command.  Sincei-e  pity  was 
fast  making  way  for  affection,  when  Peace  looked  up 
gratefully,  that  soft  brilliance  tears  give  a  woman's  eyes 
illuminating  hers.  The  strength  that  lies  in  silence  and 
reticence  seemed  invaluable  to  her  now.  It  helped  her  to 
her  own  self-poise.  But  when,  obeying  a  man's  first  im 
pulse,  to  snatch  suffering  woman  from  pain,  not  help  her 
subdue  it — he  offered  to  call  her  carriage,  Peace  shook 
her  head.  "  No,"  she  said,  all  her  defiant  hauteur 
returning  as  she  roused  herself  to  speak.  "  I'll  die  first! 
No  one  shall  ever  tell  that  I  couldn't  stay  out  a  pleasur 
ing  prepared  by  my  own  brother.  I  won't  have  it  go  that 
I'm  ashamed  of  my  blood  and  bone.  Find  him,  and  say  I  am 
recovered,  and  the  next  waltz  is  blank  on  my  card.  I've 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  235 

muscle  enough  to  hold  him  up,  luckily,"  and  she  laughed 
in  bitterness  and  scorn.  Three  minutes  after,  she  was 
on  the  arm  of  foolish,  tipsy  Charley,  and  the  tour  of 
every  set  was  made  with  unerring  skill  before  she  suf 
fered  herself  to  return  to  Goethe,  who  had  meanwhile 
been  watching  them  with  admiration  of  her  spirit,  and  a 
kind  of  shiver  of  its  metal,  such  as  one  has  in  examining 
a  sharp  dagger  and  feeling  its  keen  edge. 

Louis,  heart-sick  and  ashamed,  crept  away  from  his 
friends,  but  only  into  fresh  cause  of  misery.  It  appeared 
that  all  had  taken  the  velocipede  for  himself,  and  com 
ments  were  in  the  making  on  every  side. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  anything  so  disgraceful  as  the 
capers  of  that  Polyphemus,  let  alone  young  Allwood?  " 
said  the  Ace  of  Spades  to  the  Bologna  Sausage.  "  People 
say  they  are  regular  sots." 

Now  old  Gizzard  was  just  that  himself,  and  he  had 
been  heard  to  remark,  that  his  hopeful  son  was  nothing 
but  a  demijohn;  nevertheless  he  agreed  cheei-fully  to  the 
proposition. 

"  True,"  said  he,  "  the  piety  in  that  family  has  all 
gone  in  Pelican's  missionary  cause  to  China.  Sad  case, 
but  it  shows  the  necessity  of  implanting  religious  princi 
ples  in  early  youth.  I  am  very  strong  on  this  point,  very. 
Let's  have  something." 

Fighting  his  way  through  the  crowd,  the  unwilling  lis 
tener  passed  gentle  Fleur  de  The,  only  to  overhear  her 
telling  Mrs.  Vedder  that  rumors  of  the  disgraceful  state 
of  things  at  Top  Town  had  long  since  reached  Millville, 
and  were  killing  Mr.  Allwood's  fiancee,  whereupon  Judge 
Sistaire,  who  completed  the  trio,  nodded  gravely,  as  peo 
ple  do  over  sorrows  that  they  regret  on  general  principles. 

But  even  this  was  not  the  end,  for  Mrs.  Gizzard  came 
hurrying  up  in  her  usual  happy-go-lucky  style,  exclaim- 


236  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

ing:  "Every  one  knows  you,  Charley  Pelican;  where's 
your  friend  ?  If  he's  sober  enough  we  want  him  to  play. 
The  whole  room  is  agape  at  the  ungentlernanly  doings  in 
your  set.  I  can't  find  out  my  son's  costume,  but  I  con 
clude  he  headed  it."  Mrs.  Gizzard's  troubles  had  become 
too  patent  to  seek  concealment,  poor  woman  ! 

"  He  is  perfectly  sober,  and  at  your  service,"  answered 
Louis.  He  followed  her,  trembling  with  confusion,  to 
find  Dr.  Max  and  Susie,  Goethe  and  Peace,  conspicuous 
among  the  expectant  listeners.  "  What  flower  shall  I 
celebrate,"  he  asked,  drawing  off  his  mask  and  claws, 
and  trying  to  recover  from  his  agitation. 

"  The  one  you  have  forgotten,"  said  Peace  coldly, 
but  aiming  her  stab  with  deadly  accuracy. 

"  I  can  recall  the  song,  at  all  events,  and  will  perform 
it ; "  lie  felt  as  if  betraying  his  Mollie  as  he  made  the 
retort.  She  seemed  to  him  to  have  no  place  in  this  scene 
— as  well  hang  her  picture  in  the  "  Cereus."  But  he  had 
been  dared  to  it.  The  music  was  a  little  minor  barcarolle, 
whose  plaintive  melody  and  simple  rhythm  varied  with 
the  feeling  in  the  verses,  and  were  mixed  and  compan 
ioned  by  a  gurgle  of  piano,  like  the  noise  of  a  river 
fretted  at  its  banks  by  stones.  The  singer's  perfectly 
flexible  and  musical  tenor  voice  took  a  sadder  tone  of 
reality  from  his  own  unrest. 

"  I  seek  my  love  in  sheltered  grot, 
She  is  so  modest  and  so  fair. 
Down  in  yon  little  meadow-plot, 

The  brook  it  winds  and  babbles  there  ; 
This  is  the  song  that  fills  the  air  : 
Forget-me-not ;  forget-me-not. 

"  My  barque  it  floats  over  river  and  sea ; 
But,  oh !  our  little  moss-thatched  cot 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  237 

And  my  blue-eyed  love  are  more  to  me. 

This  is  her  parting,  ne'er  forgot, 
Made  sweet  with  velvet  lips  and  warm, 
As  fond  she  hangs  upon  my  arm : 

Forget-ine  not ;  forget-me-not. 

"  Together  o'er  the  verdant  lea 
We  stray  at  sunset,  plucking  flowers ; 
There  where  the  river  floweth  brown, 
And  blossom  pranked  his  banks  adown, 
In  this  lone  mountain-sheltered  spot, 
We  seek  the  blue  forget-me-not. 
O  traitor  blooms  !  that  sued  our  gaze  I 
Ye  on  the  border  grew  so  fine 
All  in  her  rainbow  wreath  to  twine, 
My  love's  bright  glfcnce  upon  ye  stays. 
O  greedy  stream !  to  snatch  my  flower 
That  had  such  riches  in  his  own ; 
As  some  fair  leaflet  downward  blown, 
So  fell  my  darling  on  the  wave, — 
My  darling  that  I  couldn't  save. 
Tear-blinded  at  her  piteous  lot, 
Her  wreath  on  the  false  rill  was  strewn, 
And,  sinking,  thus  she  made  her  moan : 
Forget-me-not ;  forget-me-not. " 

"  Now  it's  your  turn  to  make  music,"  said  gladiolus, 
turning  on  Goethe  with  acerbity. 

He  had  been  too  much  browbeaten  in  such  matters  to 
venture  upon  refusal :  "  If  Satan  will  play  Mendelssohn's 
Rondo  Capriccioso — I  have  heard  so  many  praises  of  his 
rendering." 

This  was  another  stab  from  memory,  for  it  could  only 
have  been  Mollie  who  admired.  But  accustomed  delight  in 
the  lovely  music  soothed  Louis  ;  he  played  it  enchantingly. 

The  andante — a  dreamy  lover's  complaint,  mirroring 
the  motifs  to  come  —  was  full  of  caprices.  Then  the 
Roudo  began. 


238  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

The  presto  opens  with  the  most  delicate  possible 
staccato  movement,  the  two  parts  imitate  each  other  with 
fairy -like  rhythm,  and  give  in  their  tiny  emphasis  a  frolic 
some,  fantastic  utterance  to  the  theme,  climaxing  in  the 
double  trill.  Then  comes  that  plain,  entreating  air, 
sustained  by  its  monotonous  pianissimo  accompaniment, 
until,  abandoning  its  style,  it  rises  in  something  nearly 
anger,  and  perseveres  in  its  argument  in  the  left  hand, 
while  the  right  belongs  to  the  wilful  elf,  frolicking  up  and 
down  in  arpeggios  that  are  equally  feminine  and  defiant. 
Then,  as  if  wearied  by  the  outburst,  the  theme  creeps 
back,  settling  down  exhausted  between  every  half-spoken 
phrase,  and  scarcely  gathering  persistence  to  assert  itself 
entirely,  when  it  falls  into  a  lower  key,  and,  murmuring 
unintelligible  words,  fairly  sinks  into  slumber,  waking  at 
intervals,  as  if  to  say,  "  I  am  so  tired,  I  am  so  tired !  "  as  a 
child  might  nestle  in  its  mother's  arms. 

But  elfin  children  never  sleep.  Suddenly  it  springs 
forth  in  the  wildest  merriment.  It  is  neither  naively 
playful  among  the  flowers,  nor  coyly  seeking  rest.  It  is 
a  mad  chase  round  and  round  upon  the  sward,  into  which 
the  elf  drags  her  graver  friend.  Wilder  and  wilder 
grows  the  pursuit.  Then  a  half  pause,  a  little  regretful 
memory  of  sweeter  quietude,  a  faint  leaning  toward  his 
human  strength,  a  yearning  even  in  midst  of  her  play  for 
something  more  earnest.  But  she  tosses  it  all  off,  and 
sways  him  into  the  most  heartless,  breathless  of  fairy 
dances. 

That  was  what  Louis  got  out  of  the  Rondo,  and  his 
sympathy  reproduced  the  thought,  for  Francis  Haythorne 
turned  to  the  gladiolus  and  said  something  about  the 
maiden  Undine  sporting  on  her  flowery  peninsula  with 
the  Knight  of  Ringstetten,  and  looked  volumes.  But 
she  drew  herself  up  with  gladiolus  dignity,  and  professed 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  239 

a  failure  in  detecting  Undine's  fondness.     She  had  been 
thinking  of  Tennyson's  poetry  beginning, 

"  Airy,  fairy  Lillian,  flitting,  fairy  Lillian." 

"  I  quite  identified  the  emotion  in  that  little  half 
adagio  phrase,  where  he  seeks  pleasance  in  love-sighs, 
and  '  where,  through  crimson-threaded  lips,  silver  treble 
laughter  trilleth,'  is  certainly  next."  This  was  quite  true, 
but  the  vision  of  the  heartless  flirt  was  not  intended  to 
soothe  Francis  Haythorne's  feelings.  Peace  had  no  mind 
to  be  mastered  through  her  momentary  weakness. 

Francis  Haythorne  took  the  place  Louis  offered  him, 
and,  gathering  his  ruffled  feathers  into  order,  began  to 
play  Liszt's  Spinnerlied  on  Wagner's  theme.  The 
highly  colored  work  of  the  authors  suited  him  well, 
giving  of  necessity  the  warmth  his  style  needed,  and  loud 
were  the  admiring  praises  of  his  hearers.  Peace,  in 
especial,  was  angry  because  Louis'  playing  forced  her  soul 
to  respond  in  kindred  emotion,  and  consoled  herself  by 
warm  encomiums  on  his  rival. 

Charley  had  provided  a  dozen  black  domiiios  in  each 
dressing-room,  and,  after  the  excitement  of  discovering 
the  costumes  subsided,  general  recourse  was  had  to  them, 
and,  secure  in  their  sable  folds,  every  one  launched  his 
shaft  at  Achilles'  heel. 

"I  heard  that  your  Millville  practice  had  got  well. 
You  shouldn't  have  let  him,  it  was  a  mistake,"  said  a  lisping 
bat,  attacking  the  Sybarite. 

"  Oh  !  you  mean  my  friend  Haythorne's  patient,"  said 
Goethe  lazily.  "  The  woxind  was  in  his  pocket,  too  close 
to  his  vital  organs  ;  I  didn't  dare  keep  it  open." 

"  You  should  have  given  that  snip  the  retort  courteous," 
cried  Dr.  Jenkens,  "  and  related  that  the  whole  family 
felt  so  badly  to  lose  your  visits  that  they  got  up  a  chronic 


240  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

whooping-cough,  and  have  been  obliged  to  receive  regular 
attention  ever  since." 

"  That  suggestion  from  you  pays  me  for  withholding 
it,"  replied  Francis.  "  I  think  it  ill-taste  to  defend  one's 
self  from  rude  slurs." 

Peace,  however,  had  taken  him  under  her  wing,  and 
was  much  incensed.  She  therefore  sallied  forth  as  domino 
noir,  intent  on  retribution. 

"  I  wanted  to  ask  about  that  young  lawyer,  Mr.  Brown," 
cried  she,  stopping  the  jester.  "  Is  it  true  his  business 
success  is  so  great  that  he's  hired  the  Millville  House 
billiard  table  to  keep  the  run  of  his  points  ?  " 

As  soon  as  he  had  complimented  Francis  Haythorne, 
and  himself  been  told  by  the  smoke-topaz-eyed  doctoi-, 
with  German  musical  enthusiasm,  that  he  was  a  "  true 
musician  with  genius,"  Louis  had  shrunk  away  from  the 
party,  longing  to  hide  himself  from  human  view.  He 
had  come  upon  the  inevitable  result  of  his  last  year's 
doings,  but  it  was  with  such  a  frightful  suddenness  as 
the  traveller  experiences  while  descending  a  dangerous 
mountain  pass,  and  all  at  once  slipping  down  the  precipice 
whose  terrors  he  had  been  braving.  An  air  the  band 
were  playing  seemed  to  follow  Louis  with  reproaches. 
We  have  seen  that  he  was  so  sensitive  to  music  that  it 
was  to  him  the  language  of  emotion,  but  often  his  own 
mood  gave  it  shape.  This  was  only  a  strain  from  the 
Eroica,  but  he  remembered  it  too  well.  He  stole  uncon 
sciously  into  Peace's  corner  of  refuge,  and  fell  into  a 
reverie,  led  by  the  poor,  belittled  theme.  How  plainly 
came  back  the  time  when,  with  shut  eyes  and  soul  con 
centrated  upon  the  revelation,  he  had  first  understood 
this  wonderful  vision  of  a  heroic  life  and  death,  and 
been  uplifted  into  mighty  longing  for  the  same  nobility ! 
He  saw  again  the  white-robed,  ethereal  concourse  grouped 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  241 

in  bright  clouds  about  the  choir,  like  space  before  a 
vacant  throne.  There  on  all  sides  stood  rows  of  shining 
winged  cherubim,  waving  slowly  to  and  fro  their  mighty 
pinions  as  do  butterflies  new-born  to  aerial  life,  and 
seraphim  whose  intensity  of  adoration  for  their  King 
made  their  hearts  to  pulsate,  even  to  sound;  and,  since  all 
in  celestial  space  is  harmonious,  their  love  thus  became 
music,  and  in  the  reverent  hush  of  heaven  rose  the  ineff 
able  sweetness  of  melodies  tending  toward  their  own  true 
centre — God.  And  in  the  midst  of  their  place  before  the 
throne,  were  conquerors  gathering  about  the  hero,  whose 
faces  bore  upon  their  gravity,  gentleness,  as  flowers 
were  girded  by  warriors  over  their  struggle-tested  armor, 
and  they  carried  laurel  crowns  on  their  thoughtful  brows, 
and  they  had  woven  one  such  for  the  new-come  brother. 
Then  the  beholder  trembled  in  awe,  as  the  Perfect  Heroism, 
higher  than  thrones  or  crowns,  entered  to  acknowledge 
kinship  with  the  soldier  who  had  braved  death,  but  bent 
all  timid  before  the  source  of  his  bravery,  the  principle 
so  far  greatest  in  his  being  that  it  had  absorbed  his  life 
into  itself.  Then  swept  the  seraphic  music  through  the 
courts  of  the  hereafter,  and  all  the  solemn  assembly  cried 
Amen,  and  the  illustrious  brotherhood  lifted  in  their  arms 
the  weary,  toil-spent  Hero  till  he  should  come  to  refresh 
ing.  And  from  their  touch  and  the  touch  of  the  Highest 
sprang  Heroism  into  the  full  health  and  might  of  eter 
nity. 

Louis  recalled  how  he  had  turned  to  Mollie  in  enthu 
siasm  of  delight  and  cried,  <(  If  this  was  the  Christian 
heaven,  how  gladly  I'd  die !  "  His  eyes  fell  on  his  hideous 
dress,  his  cloven  hoof,  his  fiend's  wings ;  to  his  excited  im 
agination  it  seemed  a  fit  symbolizing  of  his  fall.  He 
groaned  aloud. 

Then  came  Francis  Haythorne  to  beg  help  in  getting 
11 


24:2  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Charley  home,  and  poor  Mrs.  Gizzard  on  similar  errand 
for  her  graceless  son. 

And  this  was  the  end  of  Absalom's  merry-making. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1  Old  King  Cole  was  a  jolly  old  soul, 
A  jolly  old  soul  was  he  : 

He  called  for  his  pipe  and  he  called  for  his  bowl, 
And  he  called  for  his  fiddlers  three. 
And  every  fiddler  had  a  very  fine  fiddle, 
And  a  very  fine  fiddle  had  he." 

HE  next  morning  Peace  took  the  early  car  for 
Millville,  accepting  the  Jenkens'  invitation  to 
their  house,  and  she  was  careful  to  slip  out  be 
fore  Charley  was  half  awake.  Francis  Haythorne  was 
glad  to  escape  the  unpleasantness  of  meeting  the  family 
scapegrace,  and  accompanied  them.  But  he  bade  Louis 
a  friendly  farewell,  and  offered  him  the  loan  of  Hitter's 
seventeen  volumes  on  the  Philosophy  of  Geography,  which 
was  accepted  by  the  young  man  in  a  transport  of  gratitude 
ere  he  bestowed  the  party  safely  in  their  seats  on  the 
train,  and  withdrew  to  the  "  Cereus." 

"  Misery  "  (which  Shakespeare  was  probably  in  the 
habit  of  looking  upon  as  a  synonym  of  fate)  "  brings  us 
acquainted  with  strange  bed-fellows."  That  is  why  old 
Mulligan  bought  his  fall  stock  of  rotgut  at  Pelican  &  Co.'s. 
Facts  have  a  terrible  inclination  to  mix  themselves  with 
our  personal  history.  If  you  go  over  a  block  of  buildings 
in  '69,  you  do  it  at  your  peril,  for  in  '73  your  wife's 
brother-in-law,  buys  it,  fails,  and  leaves  you  with  his 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  243 

debts  to  pay  and  nine  small  children  to  support.  If  you 
cross  a  river  in  a  ferry-boat  with  a  pretty  girl,  and  cany 
her  bag,  she  turns  vindictive  twenty  years  afterward,  and 
shoots  at  you, — verdict,  sudden  insanity.  If  the  printer's 
daughter  stands  at  her  father's  door  watching  the  dusty 
j  ourneyman  with  his  two  loaves  of  bread  under  his  arm, 
that  fact  has  had  its  noose  around  their  poor  necks  in  a 
twinkling.  What  thrones  have  not  yearned  for  the  tears 
and  blood  of  Josephines,  Carlottas,  Antoinettes,  or  Lady 
Jane  Greys  !  Who  is  there  who  has  fought  ill-fortune  and 
perished  at  its  hand,  but  has  likened  his  fate  to  that  of 
the  unhappy  wretch  slowly  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  the 
whirlpool  by  the  current  once  not  discernible  beneath  the 
water's  glassy  surface  ? 

How  does  a  man's  grave  through  his  whole  life  silently 
compel  him  toward  its  maw  by  pressure  of  its  intangible, 
all-pervading,  ever-groping  filaments  !  Facts  are  furnaces 
that  must  be  fed  with  histories.  They  are  soulless  Un 
dines  in  the  ocean  of  existence,  striving  to  perpetuate 
themselves  by  union  with  humanity.  Woe  to  a  man  if  a 
political  office,  or  a  big  speculation,  or  a  pious  chap  that 
runs  a  Sunday-school  or  a  modest  country  place,  gets  an 
eye  on  him  ! 

In  the  light  of  all  this,  it  is  plain  that  malignant  fate 
had  deliberately  been  narrowing  the  orbits  of  the  Mulligan 
family  and  the  McCross  family  and  the  Pelican  family, 
until  the  failures  and  shiftless  points  of  each  came  to 
react  in  misery  on  the  others,  and  here  the  worst  off  had 
the  best  of  it,  for  misery  and  comfort  stand  generally  in 
the  relations  of  heat  and  cold.  The  latter,  being  a  nega 
tive  thing,  sucks  up  its  positive,  as  negatives  will. 

After  Mollie's  gift  of  peanuts  to  Amos  Daley  in  years 
past,  it  had  been  determined  for  all  time  that  old  Mulligan 
should  buy  liquor  of  the  Pelicans,  refuse  to  pay,  and 


244  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

thereby  necessitate  Louis'  presence  in  Millville.  Charley's 
reason  for  accompanying  him,  though  simple  in  appearance, 
was  only  part  of  the  same  infernal  machinations  of  facts. 

The  past  summer  had  brought  its  inevitable  experiences. 
Experiences  are  like  sheep :  if  you  start  one,  you  may  know 
beforehand  that  the  whole  flock  will  follow.  Hence  day  by 
day  the  brow  of  Pelican  pere  grew  dark,  and  the  face  of 
Pelican  mere  sorrowful,  and  the  behavior  of  Absalom 
worse,  till  now  the  storm  broke — where  storms  have  a 
propensity  for  breaking — at  the  breakfast-table. 

"  Ypu  are  a  weariness  to  me,"  cried  his  mother.  "  You 
kill  me ;  "  and  her  gray  curls  trembled  with  her  earnest 
ness  as  she  affirmed  it. 

"  You  disgrace  the  family,"  said  his  father. 

Now  for  the  "  governor  "  to  blow  was  quite  correct,  in 
Charley's  opinion,  but  no  such  liberty  was  permissible  to 
the  maternal  head.  He  resolved  to  punish  her. 

Mrs.  Pelican  was  a  nervous  woman.  She  lived  in  the 
most  aristocratic  house  in  the  most  aristocratic  street  in 
Top  Town.  The  very  market-wagons  went  through 
alleys  behind  the  residences,  to  spare  their  plebeian  rattle 
to  the  ears  of  the  inhabitants.  "  Gramercy  Place "  ! 
The  name  alone  was  a  tradition  of  refinement  and  ele 
gance. 

Early  that  morning  appeared  a  hand-organ,  playing 
"  Kathleen  Mavourneen,"  under  Mrs.  Pelican's  window. 
Being  of  a  charitable  turn,  she  gave  the  man  a  quarter,  and 
bade  him  move  on.  His  place  was  instantly  supplied  by 
a  "  furriner,"  who  sang  about  Cara  Italia  to  a  tuneless 
fiddle,  and  had  a  monkey.  Mrs.  P.  thereupon  bestowed 
a  handful  of  nuts  and  ten  cents,  for  which  he  invoked 
that  amount  of  blessing  and  withdrew.  She  had  not 
closed  the  door,  when  a  man  and  two  dancing  bears  claimed 
her  sympathy ;  and,  upon  refusal  of  same,  intimated  with 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  245 

tears  that  the  others  had  been  remunerated.  Now  Mrs. 
Pelican  was  a  person  of  spirit,  at  least  in  reference  to 
beggars ;  and  she  remarked  pointedly  that  she  had  no 
idea  of  satisfying  all  the  tramps  in  Top  Town.  She  felt 
at  once  that  she  had  done  a  foolish  thing.  The  fellow 
had  a  bad  eye  !  What  if  he  should  burn  the  house  ! 

He  smiled  a  smile  full  of  malevolence.  "  Too  late," 
said  he.  "  We  have  all  hear,  and  we  come  dis  mornin' 
to  play,  every  one  of  us." 

"  Alas  for  maiden,  alas  for  judge, 
For  rich  repiner  and  household  drudge  !  " 

The  threat  was  well  kept.  The  first  two  hours  the 
children  in  the  square  held  high  carnival ;  the  next  the 
older  inhabitants  advanced  to  doors  and  windows,  and 
watched  with  anguish  the  constant  stream  of  musicians 
before  the  ill-fated  house.  One  family  proposed  to  put 
out  a  small-pox  flag ;  but  after  a  short  search,  it  was  dis 
covered  that  not  an  inch  of  so  vulgar  a  color  as  yellow 
was  to  be  found  among  the  patrician  Nile  greens  and 
lavenders  in  the  piece-trunk.  In  vain  Mrs.  Pelican  en 
treated,  threatened,  scolded ;  the  swarthy  Italians  couldn't 
— wouldn't  understand.  The  gentlemen,  all  on  the  street, 
were  down  town  at  their  stores.  She  dared  not  leave  the 
place.  At  the  thirty-first  hand-organ,  the  cook,  whose 
temper  was  violent,  gave  warning  and  quitted  the  house. 
This  was  entirely  owing  to  the  pleasantries  of  the  danc 
ing-bear  man,  who  had  amused  himself  all  the  morning 
by  setting  his  Bruins  to  climb  the  alley-fence  and  carry 
off  the  eatables.  The  hapless  mistress  stuffed  her  ears 
with  cotton,  and  retired  to  bed  and  tears  of  vexation. 
But  rest  was  not  in  her  day's  programme. 

At  half-past  eleven,  a  polite  note  from  her  right-hand 
neighbor,  requesting  to  know  if  she  would  as  lief  have 


246  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

her  orchestra  play  all  at  once  and  get  through.  At  half- 
past  twelve,  the  family  opposite — total  strangers — offered 
her  two  bull-dogs,  and  a  pistol  if  she  could  load  it.  At 
two  o'clock,  five  gentlemen  called,  one  after  another,  to 
rehearse  the  various  kinds  of  nervous  illness  imminent  to 
their  households,  and  to  hint  that  their  love  of  music  had 
been  satisfied.  And  when  she  assured  them  of  her  help 
lessness,  they  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  was  d — d 
provoking  ;  which,  in  a  lady's  house,  indexed  a  frightful 
state  of  mind. 

It  was  no  xise  to  drive  away  the  players ;  one  no  sooner 
disappeared  round  the  corner  than  another  took  his 
place.  By  noon  a  crowd  had  begun  to  gather,  and  before 
long  the  street  was  jammed  with  loafers,  musicians,  half- 
clad  women,  drunken  men,  and  a  starving,  hallooing,  stone- 
throwing  legion  of  children.  It  was  impossible  to  force 
a  horse  through  the  tightly  wedged  multitude,  and  every 
one  trembled  in  fear  of  a  riot. 

Mrs.  Pelican's  condition  can  be  imagined,  however, 
when  her  left-hand  neighbor  arrived  to  insist  that  she 
should  address  the  crowd  and  send  them  away.  The 
lady  was  clearly  demented,  but  the  thrall  of  scandalized 
Mrs.  Grundy  !  think  of  her  !  "  Indeed  !  indeed  !  I  can 
not,"  gasped  she ;  "  anything  but  that !  " 

"  Madam,"  said  a  choleric  inhabitant,  who  had  just 
entered,  "  you  acknowledge  paying  them ;  you  refused 
the  bull-dogs  and  the  pistol.  It  has  a  bad  look." 

Thus  adjured,  she  took  the  cotton  from  her  other  ear, 
having  been  too  much  agitated  to  remember  it  previous 
to  this,  and,  pushed  to  the  fore,  extended  her  head  from 
the  window,  and  coughed  several  times  to  attract  atten 
tion.  Failing,  she  would  fain  have  withdrawn,  but 
this  the  choleric  gentleman,  whose  presence  of  mind 
was  lost,  and  who  strode  fiercely  up  and  down  the  parlor 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  247 

with  his  hands  supporting  his  coat-tails  like  black  fins, 
would  by  no  means  permit. 

"  Go  on,  madam !  "  said  he,  not  ceasing  to  tear  up 
and  down  his  beat.  "  Go  on  !  it's  your  duty." 

"  Man,"  gasped  Mrs.  Pelican,  looking  round  for  coun 
tenance,  and  happening  to  catch  the  eye  of  a  platter-faced 
German, — "  man,  won't  you  please  go  home  ?  " 

He  lifted  his  great  blue  eyes  stupidly  to  her  face. 

"  Please  go  home,"  urged  the  lady.  "  I  think,  indeed 
I'm  sure,  your  wife  wants  you,"  she  added,  becoming  sud 
denly  conscious  that  she  must  give  a  reason. 

Here  something  that  looked  like  a  drowned  kitten  was 
thrown  at  the  window,  and  the  object  of  her  eloquence 
put  his  fingers  to  his  nose  satirically. 

"  Come  in,  dear  Mrs.  Pelican ;  come  in  and  tell  me  the 
meaning  of  this,"  said  a  voice  behind  the  shutters,  and 
Louis  pulled  her  gently  back  into  the  room. 

"Meaning!"  said  the  choleric  gentleman.  "Why, 
this  good  lady  has  been  paying  all  the  tramps  in  town  for 
their  abominable  discords,  and  our  lives  are  in  danger  in 
consequence.  Hear  them  howl !  " 

It  was  true.     Tired  of  music,  the  crowd  were  looking 

*  O 

for  more  exciting  amusement,  and  stones  and  menaces 
were  beginning  to  fly  about. 

"  Why  not  sound  the  fire-alarm,  and  distract  their  at 
tention  ;  "  suggested  Charley,  who  had  arrived,  in  great  as 
tonishment  at  the  whole  thing.  "  A  crowd  always  runs 
to  a  fire." 

The  choleric  gentleman  actually  started  off  to  act  on 
the  advice. 

"  Let  me  out.  Let  me  pass  !  "  he  cried,  finding  the 
front  door  blocked  up  by  the  press.  t(  You  miserable 
scoundrels,  what  do  you  mean  by  stopping  a  gentleman's 
progress  ?  " 


248  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  Lor' !  "  said  the  man — it  proved  to  be  the  dancing- 
bear  man — -"  \ve  love  yer  too  much  to  let  yer  go.  Come, 
Jock,  show  the  gen'l'man  how  yer  loves  him." 

The  biggest  bear  rose  to  his  hind  feet  at  the  word  of 
command,  and  advanced  to  give  the  fatal  hug,  when  the 
front  door  opened,  and  Charley  hauled  the  burgess  inside 
by  the  seat  of  his  pants. 

"  From  what  a  fate  have  you  escaped,  dear  sir,"  cried 
he,  wildly  shaking  his  hands. 

Louis,  who  observed  that  Absalom  was  a  little  ele 
vated,  and  who  had,  moreover,  grave  suspicions  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  affair,  called  the  rescued  man  aside,  and 
begged  him  to  take  care  of  Mrs.  Pelican  while  he  went 
for  the  police.  Top  Town,  let  me  state  here,  was  too 
large  to  make  it  possible  to  patrol  the  whole  city  with 
out  greater  expense  than  the  denizens  cared  to  iecur. 
Moreover,  a  habit  of  reappointing  delinquent  and  dis 
missed  officers  to  each  other's  places  increased  the  usual 
proclivity  for  peace,  manifested  by  these  white-gloved 
dignitaries ;  and  it  is  universally  allowed  that  a  man  ab 
sent  from  a  quarrel  can't  possibly  be  killed  therein. 

Louis  walked  calmly  out  of  the  door,  up  through  the 
street,  almost  unnoticed  in  his  exit.  The  crowd  had 
been  dancing  the  bears  nearly  to  death  in  the  interim, 
and  were  now  busy  with  the  monkey.  In  a  few  minutes 
fifty  blue-coats  marched  quietly  the  length  of  the  square, 
and  aiistocratic  silence  descended,  dove-like,  and  sat  with 
folded  wings  in  this,  its  favorite  and  natural  habitat. 

In  consequence  of  the  trifling  pleasantry,  Charley, 
though  his  guilt  was  merely  conjectural,  deemed  it  wise 
to  pass  the  next  succeeding  days  in  Millville,  a  decision 
which  was  hardly  welcome  to  Louis.  Jealousy  does  not 
linger  amid  practical  jokes,  and  young  Pelican  had  long 
before,  almost  unconsciously,  passed  the  boundary  of 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  249 

good-fellowship,  and  with  slights,  pettish  insults,  or  hard 
words,  made  the  clerk  sensible  of  his  inferior  position, 
whenever  drink  or  remorse  set  the  pair  at  odds.  Mollie, 
watching,  fearing,  praying  at  home,  was  less  to  be  pitied 
than  Louis,  delivered  up  to  the  alternate  torments  of 
Charley  Pelican  and  his  own  conscience. 

Charley  had  reached  that  point  where  his  friends  be 
gan  to  look  askance  at  him.  The  experience  was  a  sour 
one  to  a  man  who  was  in  the  habit  of  considering  his 
admirers  thick  as  blackberries.  Hitherto  his  handsome 
person  and  lavish  expenditure  had  invariably  attracted, 
and  his  effervescing  love  of  pranks  been  the  every-day 
basis  for  approving  mirth.  But  now  he  could  not  help 
seeing  that  his  cronies  at  the  Cereus  were  getting  sifted 
down  to  such  men  as  the  Guises  and  Gizzards,  who  gave 
themselves  to  bitters  before  breakfast,  and  their  families 
to  bitterness  all  the  year  round ;  and  who  looked  at  the 
company  of  young  Peliean  as  the  personified  good-fellow 
ship  of  their  faithful  bottle.  It  irked  him,  stung  him 
into  recklessness,  this  quiet  unconsciousness  of  him  be 
ginning  to  obtain  among  the  discreet,  this  appropriation 
on  their  own  platform,  already  recognized  among  the  no 
toriously  indiscreet.  Absalom  was  getting  ready  to  go 
down  to  his  own  house  and  abide  there  alone,  under  a 
ban,  and  this  our  Absalom  as  well,  with  his  loud,  hearty 
laugh,  brilliant  skill  in  games,  elegant  dress,  and  fond 
ness  for  jocular,  easy-going  companionship,  so  well  fitted 
to  shine  at  the  ultimatum  of  his  ambition — a  prime  good 
fellow.  Now,  on  the  road  to  Millville,  the  young  men 
had  not  been  on  the  cars  half  an  hour  before  Charley 
had  gone  the  length  of  the  train,  made  friends  with  all 
the  gentlemen,  and  informed  himself  of  the  business 
and  estimated  the  standing  of  every  individual  on  board. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  no  woman  ever  spent  half  au 
11* 


250  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

hour  in  his  company  without  experiencing  an  intense  de 
sire  to  reform  him,  and  an  inward  conviction  that  she 
herself  was  especially  fitted  for  the  task. 

Deserted  by  his  companion,  Louis  approached  Mill- 
ville  with  oddly  mingled  feelings.  Here  was  his  love, 
here  the  scene  of  his  vows  and  resolves — broken  vows  and 
resolves,  which,  he  could  not  help  acknowledging,  were  lam 
entable  failures.  According  to  Goethe,  no  one  has  con 
science  but  the  reflecting  man.  The  ride  to  Millville  was 
absolutely  the  first  two  hours'  continuous  reflection  Louis 
had  allowed  himself  since  his  departure  to  Top  Town, 
four  years  before.  In  all  those  months  he  had  scarcely 
seen  Mollie  half  a  dozen  times,  and  then  in  stolen 
visits  of  a  few  minutes  each,  at  Dr.  Jenkens',  or,  as  hap 
pened  once,  on  the  cars  ;  brief  unsatisfactory  interviews, 
that  kept  alive  his  longing,  though  they  failed  to  quicken 
his  principle.  But  this  time  he  meant  to  claim  her  for  a 
long  tete-a-tete.  It  was  a  twelvemonth  since  their  last. 
He  had  looked  forward  to  this  little  greeting  space  with 
pleasure,  but  the  nearer  he  approached  Fir  Covert,  the 
greater  became  his  dismay.  He  was  ashamed  to  face  the 
woman  that  had  gradually  grown  into  his  incarnate  ideal 
of  virtue  and  true  womanhood.  He  seemed  to  see  her 
pleasant,  steady  eyes  diving  down  into  the  memories  his 
own  would  fain  conceal.  He  erased  the  fashionable  part 
in  the  middle  of  his  graceful  head,  and  tugged  recklessly  at 
the  ends  of  the  cravat,  whose  bow  was  a  model  of  Top 
Town  art.  But  it  wouldn't  do.  He  had  gone  away  a 
simple-hearted  country  boy,  without  either  vices  or  a  con 
ception  of  them;  he  was  returning  with  the  polish  and  ex 
perience  of  fine  Top  Town  world — in  spite  of  himself  one 
with  it.  And  Mollie,  to  whom  he  was  hastening,  could 
not  be  altered ;  his  faith  in  her  was  firm  as  the  founda 
tions  ;  she  had  only  been  developing  consistently  with  the 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  251 

theories  by  which  ho  so  well  knew  her  to  live.  What 
would  she  think  ?  What  would  she  say  ?  She  had  a 
way  of  speaking  her  mind  freely,  and  worst  of  all,  acting 
on  what  she  thought.  What  would  she  do  ?  Between 
love,  and  remorse,  and  foreboding,  he  was  rather  glad 
than  otherwise  when  Charley  joined  him.  Mr.  Pelican, 
in  fact,  had  been  taking  a  review  of  the  situation,  and 
was  inclined  to  regard  this  projected  visit  of  Louis'  to 
his  girl  as  a  going  of  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter.  Perhaps 
his  being  himself  a  trifle  remorseful  at  the  bottom  of  his 
heart,  led  him  to  propose  adding  Ms  company  in  the  ne 
cessary  business  tour.  "  And  don't  you  think,"  said  the 
poor  fellow  (I  always  pity  a  repentant  scapegrace),  "  that 
two  tumblers  of  something  cool  in  our  rooms,  and  a  good 
smoke,  would  be  a  comfort  to  the  inner  man  ?  " 

So  they  had  something  cool,  and  then  something  coot 
again.  On  the  whole,  it  was  a  measure  of  precaution  as 
well  as  pleasure  for  them  to  start  out  together. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"  Granther,  granther  long-legs, 
Wouldn't  say  his  prayers." 

jjF  all  weary  days,  it  seemed  to  Mollie  that  this 
had  been  the  weariest.  For  unknown  reasons, 
her  mother  had  taken  it  into  her  head  that  the 
poor  lassie  was  not  sound  on  the  doctrines,  and  the  erring 
girl  had  been  catechised  on  all  the  dogmas  of  Calvinism : 
Predestination,  Justification,  Regeneration,  Total  Depra 
vity,  and  the  Perseverance  of  Saints.  Now  Peace  defined 


252  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

the  difference  between  her  ego  and  Mollie's  thus: 
"  Mollie,"  she  said,  "  is  timid,  conservative,  in  regard  to 
methods  of  darning  stockings;  and  agitator,  radical — 
leveller,  in  every  question  of  time-honored  orthodoxy ; 
whereas  I  am  a  reformer,  touching  darns — and  darn 
reformers  generally."  This,  like  most  sparkling  generali 
ties,  admitted  question,  but  had  a  kernel  of  truth.  Ac 
cordingly,  intense  fondness  for  religious  speculation  and 
unlimited  indulgence  thereof,  with  a  sceptical  friend  at 
one's  elbow  to  make  the  points,  were  not  conducive  to 
Miss  McCross'  tenure  of  Calvinistic  ideas.  Mollie  was 
a  devout  Christian,  but  a  liberal  one,  as  her  mother  here 
upon  discovered. 

In  consequence,  Mrs.  McCross  had  argued  in  her  pecu 
liar  manner,  menacing  her  offspring  with  wrath,  fire  and 
brimstone,  and  appealing  to  her  alike  by  maternal 
anguish,  tears  and  Bible  texts.  Also  Mollie  had  come 
upon  her  in  an  attitude  of  prayer  behind  various  doors. 

When  the  Deacon,  whom  an  argumentative  state  in  his 
wife  invariably  rendered  meeker  than  usual,  stole  with 
noiseless  and  guilty  step  to  his  dinner,  he  was  posted  up 
in  the  subject,  and  set  on  his  daughter,  who,  wretched  as 
she  was,  wouldn't  give  up. 

"  Just  think,"  said  his  wife,  "  she  says  a  man  need  not 
be  clear  about  the  Trinity  to  go  to  heaven !  " 

Thus  urged,  the  poor  gentleman  began  rather  blindly  : 
"  You'd  orter  be  ashamed  of  yourself  to  do  so  !  "  while 
his  wife  chimed  in,  "  I'm  ashamed  for  her  !  denying  the 
faith  to  which  she  was  born !  a  serpent's  egg !  a  cocka 
trice's  nest!  she  actually  had  the  impudence  to  tell  rne 
she  must  think  for  herself.  I'd  like  to  know  what 
mothers  were  given  for,  nowadays.  She'd  better  be 
circumspect.  She  might  be  excommunicated  for  less. 
Mary  McCross,  how  dare  you  look  at  me  so  ?  I  won't 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  953 

have  it "  (this  with  tears).  "  I  don't  know  what  I've 
done  to  deserve  such  a  burden,  but  it  seems  to  be  the 
Lord's  will,  so  I'll  try  to  be  reconciled  to  it.  You 
needn't  talk  to  her."  (Her  husband  had  relapsed  into 
absolute  taciturnity,  and  was  meekly  eating  his  mashed 
potato.)  "  She  don't  care  the  least  thing  for  what  you 
say." 

"  Now,  look  a  here,  Mollie,"  quoth  he,  a  sparkle  of 
anger  lighting  his  faded  eyes, — he  was  tenacious  of  his 
personal  authority — "  you'd  better  right  about  face, 
pretty  quick,  do  you  understand  ?  " 

"Don't,  papa,  dear,"  she  had  said,  hastily  putting  her 
arms  around  his  wrinkled  neck,  and  sealing  his  irate  lips 
with  a  kiss;  "  you  know  obedience  is  my  strong  point." 

"  So  it  is,  so  it  is,"  gasped  the  old  gentleman,  conscience- 
stricken  ;  "  but  you'd  orter  be  careful. 

"  '  For  'tis  but  care  saves  timid  hare, 
When  dogs  are  bent  upon  the  scent.'  " 

Looking  over  to  his  wife,  he  saw  a  darker  storm  menac 
ing  after  the  delivery  of  this  soothing  distich.  She  was 
still  lachrymose.  On  similar  principle  to  little  Alice's, 
this  good  lady  wept  while  she  was  thinking  it  saved  time. 
So  great,  however,  was  her  husband's  agility,  that  he  had 
dodged  into  his  white  stove-pipe,  and  out  of  the  door, 
followed  by  Mollie,  whom  he  secretly  beckoned  on,  before 
the  first  flash  appeared. 

Mrs.  McCross,  thus  left  to  herself,  put  on  her  sun-bon 
net,  and  hastened  to  the  mansion  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Perfect, 
intent  on  entreating  her  Christian  sympathy. 

She  interrupted  the  worthy  couple  in  the  fabrication  of 
a  "  Higher  Life "  tract,  where  they  detailed  the  mar 
vellous  effect  of  believing  one's  self  to  be  sinless,  when  one 
isn't  at  all ;  but  either  the  .subject  hud  run  dry,  or  Mrs. 


254  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS 

McCross  was  a  favorite,  for  they  welcomed  her  cordially, 
and  read  her  the  article. 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  said  the  Deacon's  wife,  piously,  when 
Mrs.  Perfect  laid  down  the  manuscript,  "  it  is  all  in  be 
lieving.  Since  I  believed,  I  have  the  inward  witness  that 
I  have  not  sinned.  As  you  say,  it  is  a  blessed  thing  to 
live  without  sin." 

Thereupon  her  hostess  rolled  up  her  eyes  religiously, 
and  coughed  interrogatively,  which  indicated  that  she 
considered  one  topic  finished,  and  was  ready  for  the 
next. 

Thus  encouraged,  Mrs.  McCross  told  her  story.  "  You 
see  what  a  dreadful  condition  she  is  in,"  she  said,  in  con 
clusion  ;  adding  naively,  "  1  can't  think  what  to  do  next." 

"  Suppose  we  reason  with  her,"  suggested  Dr.  Perfect, 
who,  in  gesture  and  theory,  scooped  up  indignation  and 
burning  enough  every  Sunday  to  effect  the  cremation  of 
a  universe.  His  favorite  sermon  was  from  the  text, 
"And  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  "There  are, 
my  brethren,  three  kinds  of  wrath,"  he  would  say,  dig 
ging  it  up  from  the  pulpit  cushions.  In  his  presence  one 
felt  how  true  was  the  old  adage  about  Millville,  that 
there  hell  was  only  six  inches  under  ground. 

"  It  is  useless,"  replied  Mrs.  McCross.  "  She  refuses 
to  have  any  argument  upon  the  subject." 

"  What  contumacious !  obdurate  !  "  said  the  doctor, 
sternly.  "  I  fear  it  should  be  brought  before  the  session." 

"  That  would  never  do,"  cried  the  lady,  who  was  willing 
to  torment,  but  had  a  family  pride  in  the  matter  of  church 
discipline.  "  Think  of  the  scandal !  Mr.  McCross  would 
not  forgive  it." 

"Ah!  well,"  said  the  worthy  man  for  reasons  of  his 
own,  not  wishing  to  disoblige  his  Deacon.  "Patience 
sometimes  avails  in  the  room  of  harsher  weapons,  but 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  255 

the  camp  of  Israel  must  be  kept  free  from  spot  at  any 
cost ;  yes,  madam,  I  repeat  it,  at  any  cost." 

"  Suppose  we  go  together  and  labor  with  her?  "  pro 
posed  Mrs.  Perfect,  briskly.  "  You  can  give  me  the  jar 
of  strawberry  marmalade  and  the  recipe  at  the  same 
time." 

Accordingly  Mollie,  who  had  been  trying  to  forget  the 
disagreeables  of  her  lot  in  some  work  for  her  loving  old 
father,  beheld  the  yellow,  anxious  faces  of  the  two  saints 
intruding  upon  her  privacy,  without  even  a  knock  of 
warning.  Mrs.  McCross  didn't  believe  in  civility  when 
religious  interests  were  at  stake.  In  former  years,  she 
used  to  drive  Mollie  to  the  verge  of  distraction,  by  open 
ing  her  letters,  or  compelling  her  to  leave  them  unan 
swered  for  weeks,  alleging  that  if  she  wrote  too  often  her 
friends  would  get  tired  of  her  :  by  mutilating  her  favor 
ite  books,  slandering  her  schoolmates,  and  proscribing 
visits  with  them,  on  such  Biblical  grounds  as  "  withdraw 
thy  foot  from  thy  neighbor's  house,  lest  by  thy  continual 
coming  he  weary  of  thee,  and  at  last  hate  thee ; "  a  text 
particularly  applicable  to  callers  at  Fir  Covert. 

Mrs.  McCross'  theories  of  parental  rectitude  had  not 
altered  with  her  daughter's  growth.  She  still  searched 
her  drawers,  pumped  her  friends,  and  listened  at  the  key 
hole. 

Mary  rose  politely  to  receive  her  unexpected  guests; 
but  Mrs.  Perfect  did  not  wait  her  request  to  be  seated. 
Planting  her  stiff  figure  in  the  most  comfortable  arm 
chair  in  the  room,  she  loosened  her  black  cambric 
bonnet-strings  with  one  bony  hand,  and  then  demanded  a 
Bible. 

"  It  would  be  proper  to  begin  with  a  reading  from  the 
Word,"  quoth  she.  "  Is  that  your  mind,  Sister  Mc 
Cross?" 


256  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Her  young  hostess  brought  her  the  reqtiired  volume. 
It  chanced  to  be  a  Douay  Version ;  but  Mrs.  Perfect 
read  notes  and  all  in  blessed  unconsciousness,  and  smacked 
her  lips  over  the  wholesale  denunciation  of  unbelievers 
the  latter  contained. 

"  Shall  we  have  a  season  of  prayer  ?  "  she  inquired  in  a 
tone  nicely  impregnated  with  business  and  piety. 

"  Do,  Sister  Perfect,"  quoth  Mrs.  McCross  plaintively, 
from  her  place  near  the  door.  "  What  doth  Saint  John 
say :  '  If  any  man  sin  a  sin  which  is  not  unto  death,  he 
shall  ask,  and  he  shall  give  him.  life  for  them  that  sin  not 
unto  death.' " 

"  Will  you  join  us,  daughter  Mary  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Perfect, 
this  time  in  her  oily,  entreating  voice,  dropping  on  her  knees 
as  she  spoke.  Mollie,  who  had  suspended  her  work  while 
the  reading  was  going  on,  now  arose  outraged  :  "  You  must 
excuse  me  :  I  have  all  these  bulbs  to  sort ;  "  pointing  to  her 
basket  full  of  monstrous  hyacinths.  "  I  cannot  spare  the 
time." 

"  I  told  you  she  was  in  a  very  unchristian  frame  of 
mind.  I  am  fairly  sick  with  grief  at  her  obstinacy.  Oh ! 
resist  not  the  Spirit,  my  child,"  cried  Mrs.  McCross,  still 
kneeling,  and  applying  her  handkerchief  with  one  hand 
and  her  smelling  bottle  with  the  other. 

"  Come,  lift  your  troubled  heart  to  the  throne  of  grace," 
said  the  minister's  wife,  seizing  Mary  by  the  arm,  as  she 
bent  to  collect  her  scattered  labels,  and  attempting  to  pull 
her  to  her  knees. 

"  Indeed,  you  must  excuse  me,"  said  Mollie,  freeing 
herself  from  the  Christian  clutches  with  some  difficulty. 
"  It  will  be  only  a  minute's  work  to  pick  up  these  papers, 
and  then  I  will  leave  you  to  your  devotions." 

"  If  your  poor  bruised  heart  is  fixed  in  its  wayward 
ness,  I  suppose  wo  shall  have  to  be  the  more  earnest  in 


SHIFTLESS  FOLK8.  257 

intercession  for  your  imperilled  soul.  Here  is  a  tract." 
Plunging  her  hand  into  the  pocket  of  her  black-and-white 
calico,  she  brought  out,  "  The  Giddy  Heart  Reproved,"  by 
the  Rev.  Jonas  Perfect,  D.D.,  LL.D.  "  I  hope  you  will 
read  it  carefully,  and  then  send  it  to  that  bold-eyed  young 
girl  I  see  with  you  so  much.  She  cotnes  of  a  godless 
house,  and  pays  little  heed  to  the  preached  word.  My 
husband  considers  her  in  a  dangerous  state." 

"  I  have  no  desire  to  read  your  tract,"  replied  Mollie, 
annoyance  rapidly  getting  the  better  of  her  self-control. 
"  I  will  not  deceive  you  by  taking  what  would  only  go 
into  the  fire ;  and,  Mrs.  Perfect,  allow  me  to  say  that  I 
do  not  wish  a  recurrence  of  the  scene.  I  cannot  feel  ib 
my  duty  to  bear  a  series  of  similar  insults  from  an  al 
most  total  stranger." 

"  Dislike  of  saving  grace  is  a  common  feeling  of  the 
erring  heart,"  said  the  home  missionary  with  a  snuffle, 
growing  exasperatingly  meek.  "  I  will  go,  since  you  seem 
to  wish  it.  No,  my  poor  friend,  I  will  not  stay,"  as  Mrs. 
McCross  made  an  effort  to  detain  her ;  "  I  had  best  not 
intrude.  But  rest  assured,  dear  child,  my  husband  and  I 
will  make  you  a  special  subject  of  prayer  in  the  closet." 
Still  meeker,  she  stole  down-stairs,  having  tied  her  bon 
net,  destitute  of  ruche  or  flower,  with  a  mildly  sorrowful, 
drooping  bow,  and  imprinted  a  clammy  Christian  kiss  on 
the  cheek  of  her  unwilling  hostess ;  and  she  left  a  strong 
savor  of  Christian  meekness  and  sour  hair  all  the  way  out. 

Mrs.  McCross  followed  her,  weeping  audibly.  Once 
such  tears  would  have  brought  Mollie  to  her  feet  in  an 
agony  of  self-accusation.  To-day  the  daughter  sat  down 
and  reasoned  the  case  out  faithfully.  However  wretched 
she  might  be  at  these  passages  of  arms,  and  she  was  very 
wretched,  she  was  conscious  of  her  own  rectitude.  She 
felt  her  position  to-day  to  be  one  of  propriety.  Whatever 


258  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

her  mother  might  consider  due  to  her  relation  it  was  no 
part  of  her  duty  to  bear  the  insults  of  that  odious  woman  ; 
and  she  did  not  propose  to. 

"  It  is  a  hard  case,  as  you  say,  sister,"  said  Mrs.  Per 
fect  in  leave-taking ;  "  we  must  have  faith.  Did  you 
forget  the  marmalade  ?  " 

Mrs.  McCross  presented  it,  and  then  withdrew  to  her 
apartment,  showing  symptoms  of  convulsions.  She  had 
strength  enough,  however,  to  call  Mollie  down-stairs  to 
make  her  hot  toddy,  and  hunt  the  camphor.  She  divided 
her  attention  latterly  between  sling  and  valerian.  Rein 
forced  by  their  spiritual  consolations,  the  poor  lady  de 
clined  supper,  groaning  loudly  throughout  the  meal ;  but 
habiting  herself  in  a  green-and-red  double-gown,  she  ap 
peared  soon  after  to  Mollie  and  her  father,  as  they  sat 
taking  a  little  comfort  in  the  twilight. 

They  were  singing  Puritan  fugue  tunes,  and  had  just 
reached  the  linCj  "  Did  he  rise  ?  He  rose,  he  rose," 
which  they  were  reiterating  in  triumphant  excitement, 
when  Miranda  took  it  upon  herself  to  illustrate  in  person, 
and  her  husband  stopped  dead  short  on  "  He  burst,"  a 
second  and  forlorn  parody. 

"  I  always  knew  you  cared  nothing  about  your  wife, 
Elizur  McCross,"  she  cried  hysterically.  "  You  encourage 
that  reckless  girl  in  all  her  unkindness,  her  cruelty  to  me." 

The  Deacon  dropped  the  hand  he  had  been  fondling  as 
if  detected  in  a  crime,  and  scratched  his  gray  head  to 
cover  his  guilt.  "  Although  you  defy  my  authority, 
miss,  and  have  ceased  to  regard  me  in  the  light  of  a 
mother,  it  is  my  opinion,  if  I  am  to  be  permitted  to  have 
any  opinions  hereafter,  that  you  ought  to  retire  and  see 
if  you  can't  wake  up  in  a  better  frame  of  mind." 

Mollie  bent  over  and  kissed  her  father  good -night 
without  a  word,  and  after  a  little  struggle  with  herself, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  259 

offered  her  suffering  parent  the  customary  salute — a 
courtesy  refused  in  grim  auger.  Then  she  ascended  the 
stairs  obediently,  her  heart  heavy,  her  eyes  full  of  tears. 

A  moment  after  she  reached  her  room,  her  father  called 
her  softly  to  open  the  door,  and  entering,  discovered  him 
self  laden  with  a  battered  stove-pipe  hat,  and  a  bunch  of 
keys.  He  set  the  former  on  the  table,  and  jingled  the 
latter  with  emphasis.  "  I  have  come  for  the  one  that 
locks  the  hen-house,"  said  he,  with  perfect  sobriety.  "  I 
want  your  mother  to  understand  it,"  and  shook  them 
again.  "  Here  is  a  lemon  and  six  lumps  of  sugar ;  six  is 
right  for  lemonade,  isn't  it  ?  " 

Mollie's  smile,  though  difficult  to  call,  was  very  sweet, 
as  she  said  he  was  correct. 

The  Deacon  laid  his  offering  with  the  keys,  and  sat 
down  on  the  bed  beside  his  daughter.  "  Don't  spoil  your 
dear  eyes  crying,  darling.  Your  mother  "  (Deacon  Ale- 
Cross  always  spoke  of  his  wife  as  a  negro  mentions  his 
fetich, — with  mingled  uneasiness  and  reverence)  "  is 
peculiar."  He  drew  the  girl's  throbbing  head  to  his 
bosom,  and  wiped  her  eyes  with  gentle,  albeit  trembling 
hand,  on  a  small  corner  of  his  pocket-handkerchief. 
"  That's  right,"  with  childish  satisfaction,  as  she  sat  up 
and  began  to  laugh.  "  I  like  to  see  you  so — I'll  tell  you 
something  nice,  too,"  smoothing  back  her  soft  hair. 
"  Louis  All  wood  is  coming  here  to-night  to  serenade  you. 
I  asked  him  to,  because  you  hanker  after  him,  you  know, 
and  your  mother  stops  his  letters." 

"  O  papa  !  how  kind  !  "  said  the  girl,  fairly  beaming 
with  delight.  "  I  can't  thank  you  enough.  I  know  you 
want  to  be  squeezed."  This  was  the  most  sacred  and 
delightful  caress  in  which  the  pair  could  indulge.  Mollie 
gave  it  on  the  spot,  and  Mrs.  McCross,  hearing  the  noise, 
pounded  a  vicious  signal  to  be  expeditious. 


260  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

The  Deacon  put  away  his  merry  air  instantly,  and 
caught  up  his  garden  hat  and  keys  with  nervous  haste. 
Half  way  out  he  stopped,  set  down  his  burden,  came 
back,  and  took  his  daughter's  soft  throat  in  his  hand. 
"  You  love  him  better'n  ever,"  said  he,  half  in  interroga 
tion,  half  regret. 

"  Better  than  ever,  father." 

"Wall"  (slowly),  "I  hain't  no  objections,  fur  my 
part." 

He  paused  again  at  the  door,  and  fumbled  nervously 
for  the  knob.  "  'Twouldn't  be  no  use  to  let  your  mother 
know  I  asked  the  feller  up,"  said  he,  and  relapsed  from 
the  loving  champion  into  the  gaunt,  bald,  meek,  every 
day  Job. 

Mollie  gave  him  the  parting  kiss  he  wanted,  and  stood 
watching  his  stooping  form  out  of  sight.  Her  poor, 
weak,  tender-hearted  father  !  How  her  heart  went  forth 
to  him !  True  love,  all  agree,  has  in  it  an  element  of  pity 
and  an  element  of  protection.  Conceive'  love  divested 
largely  of  complacence,  infinitely  pitying,  infinitely  active 
in  relief,  and  it  becomes  the  divine  attitude  toward  us. 
Which,  it  seems  to  me,  makes  the  Atonement  very  simple, 
for  the  syllogism  stands  thus :  to  love  is  to  pity ;  pity 
is  suffering ;  God  loves ;  i.e.  God  suffers,  and  Christ 
lived  his  thirty  years  to  let  us  know  it. 

"  I  want  you  to  be  happy,  daughter,"  the  Deacon  said, 
as  he  slowly  descended  the  stairs — and  so  he  did.  When 
he  returned  to  his  faithful  Xantippe,  he  felt  his  old  heart 
warm  with  that  heroism  that  makes  men  God-like.  Oh  ! 
if  it  had  only  held  out !  That  is  the  point  with  us 
humans.  We  all  of  us  have  a  few  divine  impulses,  but 
the  self-sacrifice  that  seals  the  flasks  in  which  they  are 
kept  is  such  inferior  stuff,  that  the  precious  elixir  all 
breaks  out,  and  at  the  important  moment  there  is  nothing 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  261 

there.     Between  this  time  and  ten  o'clock  Mrs.  McCross' 
tongue  had  decanted  every  drop  of  her  lord's  prowess. 

Meanwhile,  the  vexations  of  the  day  forgotten,  Mollie 
abandoned  herself  to  delightful  thoughts.  She  was  to 
see  her  lover.  No  matter  how  fear  would  teach  her  to 
think  of  him,  his  image  always  stood  fair  and  noble  in 
her  mind.  How  she  had  longed  to  see  him,  to  listen  to 
his  voice,  and  look  into  his  frank,  gentle  eyes,  to  nestle 
passive  beside  him,  in  the  fathomless  rest  of  his  presence ! 
Now  in  a  few  hours  he  would  be  near.  She  would  feel 
again  the  subtile,  witching  fascination  of  his  dear  self.  All 
the  weary  vigils  of  the  past  slipped  into  oblivion ;  all  the 
distress  and  anxiety  that  preyed  upon  her  fled  at  his 
approach.  Her  mind,  suddenly  relieved  of  its  strain, 
relaxed.  She  fell  into  a  calm,  happy  sleep,  so  deep  that 
she  failed  to  hear  the  soft  cadence  of  harmony  flowing  in 
through  her  vine-latticed  window.  Even  Louis'  well- 
known  tones  only  mingled  with  the  phantasies  of  slumber. 

"  '  Forget-me-not  dreams  in  the  moonlight, 
Her  eyes  are  fair  to  see. 
All !  gentle  eyes,  open  to  me, 
That  I  may  know  if  love  there  be  nestling.'  " 

Her  lover  had  written  the  lines  when  the  blue  blossoms 
were  unfolding  from  their  crumpled  pink  buds,  and 
Mollie  had  worn  them  in  her  chestnut  braids.  That  was 
long  years  before.  The  two  had  set  them  to  music,  and 
sung  them  together  a  thousand  times  since,  and  now  she 
was  become  his  forget-me-not.  Awake,  Mollie  dea;. 
Go  down  into  the  shadowy  garden,  among  the  asters  and 
balsams,  dark  in  the  pale  moonlight.  Go,  and  forget,  if 
only  for  one  brief  instant,  that  time  exists,  save  to  bring 
happiness. 

"  You  moonstruck  whipper-snapper,  if  you  don't  quit 
these  grounds,  I'll  make  you  wish  you  had,"  screamed 


262  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Mrs.  McCross  from  the  parlor  window,  in  a  voice  some 
what  husky  through  anger,  but  more  from  the  absence  of 
false  teeth. 

At  the  sound  her  daughter  started  to  her  feet,  broad 
awake,  and  held  her  breath  in  terrified  anticipation. 

"  Mirandy,  Mirandy,  where  are  rny  stockings  ?  "  cried 
the  Deacon  feebly,  from  the  bed-room.  "  Do  come  and 
help  me  find  'em." 

"  You  keep  away  from  here,  meddlesome  ninny,"  quoth 
his  wife  to  her  lawful  head ;  then  to  Louis,  "  Do  you 
mean  to  budge  or  not  ?  Elizur  McCross,"  bringing  herself 
into  the  house  with  a  snap,  "  do  you  hear  me  ?  Go  and 
get  into  bed  this  minute." 

"  When  all  the  clouds  about  the  sun  lie  up  in  golden 
creases,  I'll  think  of  departing,"  answered  Louis  from 
the  walk  close  by  the  window.  His  voice  sounded 
strangely  to  Mollie's  sensitive  ears.  It  wasn't  a  boy's 
direct  utterance.  She  couldn't  instantly  analyze  the 
jarring  peculiarity,  but  he  ended  the  sentence  with  some 
thing  like  a  hiccough. 

"  You  have  no  business  on  my  premises,"  shrieked 
Mrs.  McCross.  "Why  do  you  skulk  about  the  house 
at  this  time  of  night  ? — to  steal  ?  " 

"  Don't  alarm  yourself  iinnecessarily,  old  lady,"  said 
the  young  man ;  "  I  haven't  come  for  the  property  my 
father  left  in  your  care." 

"  Drunken  puppy  1  I'll  teach  you  to  talk  so  ;  "  and  her 
daughter  heard  the  splash  of  water,  and  the  sound  of  a 
blow,  followed  instantly  by  a  sharp  crash  of  glass. 

By  this  time  Mollie  had  reached  the  garden,  and  run 
to  her  lover,  whom  she  found  dripping  with  the  contents 
of  the  well-water-dipper,  which  lay  shining  in  the  moon 
light  at  Ids  feet.  He  was  gazing  remorsefully  at  the  shat 
tered  window,  and  evidently  took  no  heed  to  the  torrent 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  263 

of  wrath  the  lady  in  the  parlor  was  pouring  upon  him, 
or  to  her  menacing  gestures.  He  didn't  even  notice 
Mollie's  quick  step,  or  see  the  frantic  Deacon  aimlessly 
flourish  a  long  knit  stocking,  as  he  hurried  to  his  better- 
half,  and  drew  her  from  the  casement  by  main  force. 
But  soon  he  turned,  and  beheld  the  woman  he  loved  stand 
ing  near.  When  quiet,  or  deep,  or  earnest  natures,  are 
once  irritated,  it  takes  a  long  time  for  the  disturbed  sub 
strata  to  return  to  repose.  Accordingly,  though  his 
wrath  had  passed,  he  was  still  in  the  gall  of  bitterness. 
As  for  Mollie,  her  whole  soul  was  possessed  with  a  blind 
instinct  to  be  near  him  in  the  trouble. 

"  I've  broken  your  window  glass,  insulted  your  mother, 
and  made  a  fool  of  myself;  now  I  guess  I'll  go  home," 
said  he,  sulkily. 

The  girl's  nerves  were  unstrung  from  long  continued 
anxiety  and  vigil.  She  was  trembling  like  an  aspen,  with 
excitement.  In  such  a  state  the  merest  touch  destroys 
our  mental  balance.  The  whole  scene,  from  the  strug 
gling  couple  in  the  parlor,  sympathized  with  by  Poppj7, 
who  thought  it  a  free  fight,  and  danced  on  her  perch,  and 
shouted  "go  in,  lemons,"  at  the  top  of  her  voice,  to 
Louis'  angry  face,  contrasting  oddly  with  his  boyish  an 
nouncement,  was  very  funny.  She  must  cry  or  faint,  or 
somehow  vent  her  emotion.  She  laughed. 

He  turned  on  her  almost  savagely.  "  If  you  enjoy  it, 
go  on,"  said  he. 

It  came  to  Mollie  in  a  flash  that  this  meeting  would 
determine  their  two  lives.  If  she  let  him  go  thus,  he 
was  gone  forever,  and  she  loved  him. 

"  Louis,  dear  Louis."  Only  a  woman  can  put  her 
whole  heart  into  two  words,  as  Mollie  did  into  these. 

The  man  felt  it,  but  he  wouldn't  yield.  The  woman 
close  at  his  side  lived  his  thought  twin  with  her  own. 


264  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  Louis,"  said  she  gently,  "  I  love  you  at  your  best. 
Is  to-night  your  best  ?  " 

He  stood  perfectly  silent,  looking  away  into  the  shadows 
so  long — so  long,  it  seemed  to  Mollie  as  if  he  would 
never  come  back  to  her  again. 

She  concentrated  her  whole  being  into  an  intense,  pas 
sionate  throb  of  love ;  he  must  be  hers,  he  must. 

By  and  by  the  man  faced  his  opponent.  She  trembled 
— now  with  fear.  Had  she  won?  She  raised  her  eyes 
timidly  to  his,  to  meet  them  full  of  affection  and  honest 
purpose. 

Then  she  held  out  her  hand  with  a  happy  smile.  He 
took  it  in  both  his  own.  The  old  dear  touch,  so  missed, 
so  well  remembered.  His  pulse  throbbed  fiercely  against 
hers — the  only  trace  of  the  struggle.  "  You  have  won," 
said  she,  softly. 

"  Won,"  he  replied,  his  eyes  answering,  with  true  man 
hood  shining  in  them. 

That  was  all  they  said ;  but  they  stood  together  a  long 
time  comforting  each  other,  without  need  of  words. 
By  and  by  he  drew  her  fondly  into  his  arms,  held  her 
close  a  minute,  and  then  hurried  away. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

"  The  pig  was  eat,  and  Tom  was  beat." 

HAT  night's  sowing  made  bitter  reaping  for  my 
poor  children,  just  as  the  handful  of  tares  good 
people  scatter  always  does,  though  their  wicked 
neighbors  may  harrow  them  in  over  a  whole-wheat  field, 
and  yet  never  seem  to  get  a  ripe  head  for  their  pains. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  265 

Mrs.  McCross  rose  early  next  morning,  her  aches  and 
ailments  gone  ;  the  white  curtains  poets  wot  of,  albeit  in 
this  case  something  red  at  the  edges,  rolled  up  from  her 
pale  eyes  to  their  farthest  extent.  She  chalked  her  face, 
donned  a  silk  morning-gown,  brought  out  her  gossipy 
patchwork,  and  enthroned  herself  and  aromatic  salts  in 
the  cosey  green  sitting-room,  in  state,  for  she  had  a  thing 
in  hand. 

Before  twelve  o'clock  she  had  blown  a  tale  of  midnight 
attack  and  intended  villany  all  over  Millville ;  for  Susy 
Jeukens  came  to  get  batter — the  McCross  dairy  being 
celebrated ;  and  Mrs.  Captain  Slocum  called  on  Mary  ; 
and  Zoe  Bradshaw  dropped  in  on  mission  business ;  and, 
best  of  all,  Miss  Petingil  arrived  in  pursuit  of  bread  and 
butter,  and  Mrs.  McCross  failed  not  to  send  her  up  to 
the  village  fully  primed  and  early  in  the  day.  Miss  Pet 
ingil,  like  a  wise  diplomatist,  had  two  strings  to  her  bow. 
Her  immediate  object  was  getting  a  pair  of  pants  to  make 
for  the  Deacon  ;  her  secondary,  interesting  Mrs.  McCross 
in  a  moral  periodical  of  which  she  was  agent,  called  "  The 
Flag  of  Humanity." 

"  Hev  you  ever  seen  it  ?  "  she  asked,  fishing  it  out  of 
the  bag  she  wore  tied  about  her  waist  with  a  piece  of  thin 
black  ribbon.  "  If  I  dew  say  it,  there  ain't  a  better  maga 
zine  took  in  Millville.  There's  poetry  an?  there's  prose, 
an?  lectures  on  health,  am?  everything  that's  good  to  read." 

"  We  subscribe  for  several  religious  papers,  to  send  to 
the  home  missionaries,"  remarked  her  hostess ;  "  I  don't 
believe  I  could  afford  any  more." 

"  Bnt  this  is  such  a  nice  one,"  said  Miss  Petingil,  with 
a  sigh.  "  When  I  go  home  all  wore  out  tailoring  I  rest 
myself  perusing  it.  There's  one  piece  of  poetry  that 
can't  be  beat  no  way,  on  tobacker.  It's  reely  beautiful  ! 
It  tells  how  dirty  it  is,  how  much  a  man  spends  in  his 


266  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

lifetime,  an'  how  high  his  heap  of  quids  would  be  if  he 
lived  fifty  years.  It's  splendid  poetry,"  she  reiterated, 
resting  her  forefinger  on  the  page,  and  carefully  wiping 
her  glasses  on  her  knitting.  "  I  used  to  make  poetry 
myself,  but  I  couldn't  come  up  to  that,  no  way." 

Peace,  who  was  visiting  Mollie  in  the  next  room,  over 
heard,  and  resolved  to  become  possessor  of  this  effusion 
of  genius.  But  Mrs.  McCross  staved  off  the  contem 
plated  reading  by  a  characteristic  remark : 

"  We  had  quite  an  adventure  here  last  night.  My 
husband's  former  ward  came  round  and  smashed  our 
windows ! " 

The  news-carrier's  face,  which  had  fallen  a  little,  as  she 
slipped  "  The  Flag  of  Humanity  "  back  into  the  faded  bag, 
now  grew  bright  with  anticipation,  and  she  rejoined  briskly, 
tl  You  hadn't  no  plate,  nor  nothink  around,  had  you  ?  " 

<c  A  mere  trifle  of  the  Lord's  blessings,  some  of  which 
he  has  seen  fit  to  reclaim,"  said  Mrs.  McCross,  humbly. 
"  He  feedeth  the  ravens,  and  the  young  lions  do  lack  and 
siiffer  hunger." 

"  Jess  so  !  "  responded  the  spinster,  whose  eyes  antici 
pation  had  greened  like  leeks.  She  chewed  a  black 
thread  gradually  into  her  thin  straight  mouth,  and  waited 
developments,  meanwhile  folding  the  broadcloth  pieces 
with  care,  for  she  was  particular  about  her  work. 

Mrs.  McCross'  gentle  brow  clouded  with  sorrow.  "  I 
have  nothing  to  tell  about  our  losses.  Don't  ask  me.  It 
may  be  a  mistake.  How  can  we  worms  know  the  secret 
acts  of  our  brother-worms  ?  Mollie,  poor  child,  thinks 
he  came  to  serenade  her.  It  is  as  well  to  let  it  go  so. 
It  won't  bring  back  the  money  to  ruin  him." 

The  look  in  her  pale  eyes  was  almost  too  fiendish  to 
come  within  the  united  capacity  of  her  Christian  and 
motherly  benevolence. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  267 

"  But  the  example !  your  duty  to  society !  "  gasped 
Miss  Petingil,  not  too  much  horrified  to  forget  her  snuff 
box.  "  I  know  just  how  bad  your  feelin's  must  be  " — sniff 
sniff.  "  But  it's  a  devolution  upon  you  " — sniff — "  to  sac 
rifice  even  your  right  eyes  for  the  safe  " — sneeze — "  ty  of 
your  neighbors." 

As  Miranda's  only  answer  was  a  plaintive  smile,  the 
advocate  of  justice  pocketed  the  tobacco,  to  exclaim 
with  sympathetic  emphasis  : 

"  He's  ben  takin'  on  awfully  in  Top  Town,  an'  that 
ere  Peace  gel  sticks  up  for  him.  Wa-11,  you  needn't  tell 
me  men  break  into  folks'  winders  fur  nothin',  an'  yourn 
too,  that  have  ben  a  mother  to  him.  It's  reely  peculiar. 
Don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

Mrs.  McCross  agreed  that  it  was  peculiar ;  and  added, 
with  a  sad  shake  of  her  head :  "  Divine  grace,  as  I've 
always  maintained,  is  the  only  thing  that  will  ever  make 
a  man  of  Louis  Allwood." 

So  she  started  the  story,  and  Cymbalinus  Adolphus 
Brown  heard  it.  He  had  gone  the  rounds  of  his  ac 
quaintance  matrimonially  intent,  but  none  of  them,  even 
Euphemia  Hitchcock,  had  buckled  to  ;  and,  being  himself 
impecunious,  he  had  lately  gone  into  the  law  for  a  living. 
He  therefore  hurried  to  Fir  Covert  in  search  of  a  job. 
Since  the  tea-party,  he  had  been  very  shy  of  Mollie, 
though  Mrs.  McCross,  who  was  a  great  admirer  of  "  the 
young  gentlemen,"  in  secret,  lay  in  wait  for  him,  and 
brought  him  in  whenever  she  could.  The  household 
were  therefore  neither  astonished  nor  otherwise  to  see 
him  pay  the  mistress  of  the  house  a  long  call  at  an  un 
fashionable  hour,  though  the  two  bolted  their  doors,  and 
Mrs.  McCross  let  him  out  of  the  gate,  with  her  own 
hands,  at  close  of  session. 

Louis  meanwhile  had  accomplished  nothing  less  than  a 


268  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

bitter  quarrel  with  Charley  Pelican,  who*  was  too  little 
at  ease  with  himself  to  be  able  to  hold  any  one  course  of 
behavior  toward  those  depending  upon  him.  Louis,  alter 
nately  snubbed,  and  made  boon  companion,  or  father  con 
fessor  to  pranks  he  was  ashamed  to  hear  of,  was  already 
at  odds  with  his  condition ;  and  a  few  hours'  sober  reflec 
tion,  well  lighted  by  the  candle  of  self-reproach,  sufficed 
to  disgust  him  with  the  very  thought  of  the  Night- 
blooming  Cereus,  and  its  genteelly  drunken  frequenters. 
Those  nice  ideas  of  honor,  which  he  had  felt  too 
thoroughly  natural  to  need  cherishing,  and  unconsciously 
laid  aside,  reasserted  their  supremacy  over  a  remorseful 
and  humbled  man.  Such  vigorous  mental  action 
produced  a  state  of  nervous  exasperation,  little  fit  to 
ensure  a  cordial  meeting  with  the  companion  of  his 
last  night's  spree,  the  less  after  a  little  recreation  in  which 
that  young  gentleman  was  indulging  himself. 

Peace  breakfasted  with  Charley,  and  then  donned  her 
new  charity  uniform ;  the  same  being  the  remarkably 
elegant  garb  upon  which  the  fair  sisters  of  the  Order  of 
Sackcloth  and  Ashes  prided  their  gentle  hearts.  Thus 
clad,  the  budding  saint  set  forth,  intent  on  teasing  Mollie, 
who  disapproved  of  charitable  flummery ;  and  her 
brother,  left  to  himself,  strolled  through  the  village  in 
search  of  mischief. 

He  had  not  gone  far,  when  he  met  Francis  Haythorne, 
so  perfectly  arrayed  in  soft  brown,  that  he  seemed  to 
have  just  stepped  from  a  bandbox.  Charley,  who  had  a 
style  of  his  own,  embracing  a  bright  blue  cap,  scarlet 
necktie,  "  coatie  all  too  short,"  and  huge  cigar,  eyed  him 
over  and  sniffed  with  scorn.  He  despised  his  sister's 
male  friends  on  principle. 

"  Lend  us  your  flipper,  Haythorne,"  quoth  he. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  269 

The  person  addressed  sniffed  in  his  turn,  and  gingerly 
extended  his  well-gloved  fingers. 

"  Darn  snippy  weather  for  quadrupeds !  "  remarked 
Charley  in  a  loud  voice. 

"  Very,"  said  Mr.  Haythorne,  looking  about  for  means 
of  escape. 

"  Do  you  fume  ? "  asked  Charley,  tendering  a  fat 
Habana  whose  aroma  was  enough  to  floor  an  abstemious 
man,  and  standing  exactly  in  front  of  his  victim  so  he 
couldn't  pass.  "  By  thunder !  you  look  weak  this 
morning." 

''  Thanks.  I  never  smoke  in  the  street  in  daylight  !  " 
answered  Francis  with  an  annoyed  wave  of  the  hand. 

"  Plenty  of  pretty  girls  in  Millville,"  suggested  his  tor 
mentor,  expanding  his  great  chest  and  towering  a  head 
above  the  passers-by,  a  giant  provoking,  and  like  a  giant, 
weak.  "  Deuce  take  it !  "  warming,  and  nettled  too,  as 
the  fastidious  Francis  betrayed  his  disgust  more  and  more 
plainly.  "  I'd  like  to  kiss  'em." 

"  Why  not  ask  permission  ?  "  said  the  Sybarite  dryly, 
drawing  away  from  this  coarseness  at  the  same  time,  as 
if  he  had  been  petitioned  for  the  salute. 

"  By  Jove,  I  will !  "  cried  Charley,  incensed  at  the 
gentleman's  tone.  "  If  you  say  so,  I'll  hoof  it  down 
Main  Street,  offer  my  jug-handle  to  every  woman  I  meet, 
and  see  if  she  won't  let  me  brush  a  trifle  of  lily-white 
off  her  damaged  cheek.  Hang  it !  I  will  anyway.  Just 
go  long  'tother  side  the  road  and  watch." 

Mr.  Haythorne  declined,  and  mentally  searched  his 
Sybarite  vocabulary  for  a  delicate  phrase  expressive  of 
"  confounded  donkey,  despicable  jackass,"  and  permitted 
his  handsome  features  to  curl  with  a  sneer.  But  Squire 
Hitchcock,  who  was  one  of  the  little  group  Charley  had 
contrived  to  collect  about  them,  felt  his  old  blood  stirred 


270  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

with  youthful  heat,  and  volunteered  his  services,  adding  : 
"  You'll  have  to  be  spryer  than  July  hopper  grass  to  ketch 
some  on  'em." 

Francis  Haythorne  watched  the  precious  pair  with 
contempt ;  but  when  they  encountered  Mrs.  Dennis,  with 
a  covered  basket  on  her  arm,  and  three  full-blown  yellow 
roses  and  one  pink  one  on  her  hat,  his  wrath  got  far 
beyond  even  the  memory  of  a  consoling  maxim. 

"  Suffer  me,"  said  Charley,  trying  to  embrace  the  good 
woman's  stout  figure,  and  imprint  a  salute  upon  her 
mature  cheek. 

She  shifted  her  basket  just  in  time  to  send  him  stagger 
ing  back,  in  the  precise  attitude  of  the  starved  apothe 
cary  in  Romeo  and  Juliette.  <{  Do  you  think  I'll  have  ye 
to  kiss  me,  ye  slobberin'  dirty  jackanapes  ?  "  she  cried 
shrilly,  her  plump  face  crimson  with  wrath  as  she  surveyed 
the  young  harlequin.  "  Hugh,  Hughey  Dennis,  come 
quick,  and  smash  his  iley,  moppy  head  for  insultin'  yer 
mother !  Bedad  thin,  I'll  do  it  meself,"  as  no  Hugh 
appeared;  and  she  set  down  her  basket,  and  unpinned 
her  plaid  blanket  shawl  accordingly. 

"  Oh,  dear !  my  good  woman !  I  wouldn't,"  said  Squire 
Hitchcock  in  a  deprecatory  tone,  rubbing  his  well- 
developed  abdominal  region  inquiringly  as  he  spoke,  for 
Charley's  elbow  had  come  in  violent  contact  therewith  in 
his  precipitate  retreat ;  "  I  wouldn't !  I  don't  believe 
he  meant  anything." 

Mrs.  Dennis  turned  on  him,  blazing  with  indignation. 
"  I've  jest  wan  piece  of  advice  fur  the  likes  of  you  : 
Have  naught  to  do  wid  yon  graceless  scamp  ;  belike  he'll 
lead  even  your  gray  hairs  asthray,  wid  his  impedunt 
thricks.  An'  wouldn't  that  be  a  sad  day,  think  ye,  for 
the  pair  things  housin'  amidst  'em  ?  "  The  vindictive- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  271 

ness  of  her  tone  brought  the  peace-maker's  fingers  to  his 
maligned  locks  involuntarily. 

"  By  thunder  !  she  had  you  then,  Squire,"  shouted 
Charley,  delighted.  "  I  was  in  earnest,  mudatn.  It 
wouldn't  hurt  you  any,  you  know." 

He  approached  her,  though  she  waved  him  back  majes 
tically  ;  and  something  cried  "  wee  !  wee  !  wee  !  "  in  her 
basket,  but  she  heeded  not  the  voice  of  the  charmer. 

"  It's  not  me,  the  mother  of  seven  sons,  all  in  glory 
but  one, — heaven  rest  their  souls, — as  'ud  be  doin'  such  a 
thing,"  she  went  on,  in  a  tone  of  impressive  dignity,  and 
took  a  half-step  back  so  as  to  give  a  grander  sweep  to  her 
voluminous  skirts,  whereby  she  trod  on  the  tail  of  a  cat 
investigating  the  contents  of  her  twig-woven  casket. 
"  Saints  be  praised  !  "  she  continued,  sublimely  uncon 
scious  of  the  howling  animal ;  "  I've  buried  Dinnis  this 
five  year;  but" — ("  wee!  wee  !  "  vehemently  from  the 
wicker-ware) — ''  I'm  as  thrue  to  his  memory  as  the  day  I 
laid  him  wid  tears  and  heart-break  beneath  the  church 
yard  sod."  At  this  point,  the  squeaks  becoming  very 
audible,  Mrs.  Dennis  imposed  silence  by  a  back  kick. 
"  An'  sence  he  died,"  she  went  on,  without  a  pause, — 
"  sence  he  died  I'm  niver  in  the  street,  save  to  buy  bread 
for  the  childer,  such  as  bees  now  in  me  basket,  or,"  an 
other  kick,  which  tipped  over  the  object  of  her  solicitude, 
followed  by  a  jubilant  squeal,  "  mayhap  a  small  bit  of 
calico  for  meself,  a  dress,  or  shirts  for  Hugh,  as  is  too  in- 
tyerly  principled  a  boy  to  come  before  uptown  folks  in  his 
ragged  cloes ;  or, — bedad,  an'  the  pig's  out  !  Run  for 
him,  if  ye'd  have  the  name  of  gintlemin."  Exit  Mrs. 
I)enuis  in  hasty  chase,  followed  by  a  crowd  urging  on 
the  knotty-tailed  quadruped  with  shrieks  and  hoots. 

The  objects  of  her  eloquence  remained  behind,  stamping 
and  screaming  with  mirth,  Charley  being  finally  obliged 


272  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  lean  against  the  fence  to  keep  his  balance,  and  the 
Squire  slapped  his  big  legs  so  hard  in  extremity  of  de 
light,  that  they  must  have  been  sore  for  a  week  after. 
"  This  is  bully  !  "  said  the  representative  of  the  Pelicans, 
at  last,  and  settled  his  attire  by  help  of  a  reflecting  shop- 
window. 

"  Yes,"  returned  his  companion,  just  then  remember 
ing  his  grievances  ;  "  yes ;  quite  so.  You  haven't  ground 
the  pints  to  them  elbows  o'  your'n  lately,  hev  you  ?  I 
didn't  know  but  you  was  feelin'  for  my  crop  a  short  .spurt 
ago." 

At  this  point,  Susie  Jenkens'  little  sister  Gracie  came 
tripping  down  the  street,  in  all  the  light-hearted  gayety 
that  belongs  to  girl-life.  Poor  maiden!  Red  Riding 
Hood  was  not  more  innocently  amazed  when  the  wicked 
wolf  petitioned  a  salute,  than  she  when  this  lupine  ma 
rauder  snatched  a  kiss.  She  stood  quite  still,  her  golden 
curls  tossed  all  about  her  dainty  head,  the  very  image  of 
bewildered  fright,  and  put  out  her  small  hands  to  push 
him  off,  with  a  pretty,  touching  gesture,  and  gazed  a  long 
minute  into  the  cruel  fellow's  face,  which  he  contrived  to 
make  really  earnest  and  beseeching.  Then  she  gave  a 
little  cry,  and  darted  up  a  side  street,  her  feet  keeping 
time  to  the  hurried  beating  of  her  heart.  Pity  that 
the  very  tears  of  alarm  she  shed  should  be  mingled  with 
feelings  of  admiration  and  gentle  sorrow  for  the  handsome 
scapegrace !  I  fear  she  thought  of  him  very  often  during 
the  next  few  days,  especially  when  she  discovered  he  was 
Peace's  brother,  and  I  know  she  debated  long  if  she  had 
done  as  she  ought,  and  experienced  in  murmuring  her 
sweet  prayers  that  night,  how  good  it  is  to  forgive  our 
enemies,  and  them  that  do  despitefully  use  us. 

Even  Squire  Hitchcock  felt  mean  at  this  adventure. 
"  Bones  of  Aunt  Tommy  !  this  ain't  nowise  fair,"  he  be- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  273 

gan,  and  then  stopped,  for  old  Miss  Petingil  appeared 
on  the  scene.  She  was  jogging  her  way  up  the  street, 
very  complacently,  inasmuch  as  she  held  under  her  arm 
a  paper  of  sage  and  half  a  pumpkin, — gifts  of  the  Mc- 
Crosses.  It  was  a  good  hour  since  she  started  from  Fir 
Covert,  so  frequent  had  been  her  delays  to  relate  her 
story.  Spying  our  amorous  couple,  she  began  at  once. 

"  Now,  Square,  hev  you  heerd  what  a  drefful  prank — " 

Here  Charley  nudged  Mr.  Hitchcock  in  the  ribs,  and 
begged  an  introduction  in  a  stage  whisper. 

Miss  Petingil  bridled  and  smiled.  "  Ain't  you  Peace 
Pelican's  brother  ?  "  she  asked,  with  a  simper  forty  years 
out  of  date.  Charley  took  the  blue  cap  clear  off,  and 
fairly  tucked  it  under  his  arm  in  graceful  acknowledgment 
of  the  fact,  and  telegraphed  "  success  "  to  his  accomplice. 
tl  Like  to  speak  with  me,"  said  the  spinster,  cheerfully. 
"  I  das'  say  you  want  some  tailorin'  done.  I  ain't  bad  at 
it ;  "  drawing  towards  the  fence  for  privacy.  "  Here's 
a  pair  of  pants  I'm  doin'  now  for  Deacon  McCross, — new 
pattern ;"  and  she  proceeded  then  and  there  to  exhibit  it. 
Charley  vouchsafed  a  half  glance,  expressing  too  much 
modesty  to  look  at  such  articles  in  company.  "  No,  no," 
said  the  ingenuous  youth,  blushing ;  "  I'm  ashamed  to  ask 
you  for  what  I  want.  But  mother's  away  at  Top  Town 
so  long,  and  I'm  homesick.  She  always  comes  and  kisses 
me  before  I  go  to  sleep, — and  you  look  so  much  like  her." 

"  Dew  tell  !  "  said  Miss  Petingil,  in  sympathy,  her  love- 
scrimped  heart  warming  with  motherly  instinct.  Oar 
Absalom  was  such  a  handsome  boy,  with  his  rich  color 
ing,  and  lips  now  drawn  into  a  sorrowful  curve.  She 
couldn't  help  it.  "  Tain't  likely  you'll  go  home  for  a 
week,  mebbc  ?  " 

Charley  shook  his  curly  head  as  if  heart-broken,  and 
drew  out  a  white  handkerchief,  ready  for  application  to 


274:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

his  eyes ;  but  this  was  unnecessary.  The  old  lady  depos 
ited  her  half  pumpkin  on  the  fence-rail,  and  wiped  her 
withered  mouth  preparatory. 

"  There  !  "  said  she,  "  take  it.  I  hain't  no  boys  nor 
nuthin' ;  but  'tain't  no  harm,  no  way." 

The  Squire,  whose  watery  organs  of  sight  had  been 
some  time  glittering  with  rare  enjoyment,  could  no  longer 
contain  himself,  and  now  burst  into  a  hoarse  laugh. 
Mrs.  Dennis,  too,  rushed  by,  still  in  pursuit  of  the  pig. 
"  Fools  ain't  all  dead  yit,  be  jabbers  !  "  quoth  she,  knock 
ing  the  spinster's  yellow  treasure  off  the  fence  in  her 
haste,  and  was  gone  like  a  dream.  So  was  the  pumpkin, 
for  piggy  doubled  again,  and  spying,  buried  his  nose  in 
it.  The  sharp-cut  wrinkles  on  the  maiden's  face  all  deep 
ened,  and  the  mother-look  faded  hopelessly.  She  craned 
up  on  the  instant.  "  Almira  Petingil  is  fit  game  for  town 
loafers,  p'raps  !  "  she  cried,  "  but  she's  too  much  a  woman 
to  look  at  you  twice."  She  picked  up  and  wiped  the 
remnant  of  pumpkin,  abandoned  with  reluctance  by  piggy, 
and  ambled  forlornly  away. 

Next  a  tall,  graceful  figure,  clad  in  sombre  black,  with 
a  thick  veil  sweeping  from  her  bonnet  and  hiding  her 
face.  The  young  man's  heart  sank  as  she  approached. 
The  modest  unconsciousness  of  purity  is  a  very  wall  of 
safety  to  its  possessor.  Charley's  reflections  resembled 
those  of  Le  Docteur  Faust  in  a  similar  situation  : 

"  No  form  like  hers  I  can  recall ; 
Virtue  she  hath,  and  modest  heed ; 
Is  piquant,  too,  and  sharp  withal." 

He  really  hadn't  courage  to  molest  her,  and,  fairly 
vanquished,  was  about  turning  away,  when,  goaded  on  by 
a  "  haw  !  haw  !  "  from  the  gentle  Hitchcock,  who  had 
discreetly  retired  from  the  glances  of  wrath  at  betrayed 
confidence  shot  at  him  by  Miss  Petingil,  he  stopped  the 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  275 

lady  with  an  apology,  explained  the  case — a  boyish  frolic, 
— would  she  excuse?  and — permit  ? 

She  trembled  a  little,  but  heard  with  grave  politeness. 
He  listened  eagerly  for  the  liquid  melody  of  her  voice  in 
answer.  In  vain,  for  she  didn't  speak.  Her  soft  gar 
ments  exhaled  a  rich,  dreamy  perfume.  He  was  wild  to 
snatch  aside  the  sweeping  crepe  that  hid  her  features. 
He  bashfully  stretched  out  his  hand  to  unveil  her,  but 
she  shrank  back  and  shook  her  exquisite  little  glove  defi 
antly,  herself  pulled  away  the  wrinkled  mask,  and  per 
mitted  him  to  press  a  kiss  upon  a  cheek  whose  rich  color 
was  beyond  praise.  Then  she  motioned  him  to  go,  with 
dignity,  though  he  thought  he  heard  a  faint  gurgle  of 
laughter  as  she  left  him. 

She  stopped  at  the  corner  of  the  street  to  talk  with 
Louis  Allwood.  How  merry  they  were !  A  horrible  sus 
picion  took  hold  of  Charley's  mind.  Could  it  be,  yes,  it 
was — Peace  ! — wicked,  mirthful  Peace ;  and  she  stood  de 
tailing  the  joke  with  nods  and  becks  and  wreathed  smiles, 
to  a  man  whose  quiet  superiority  he  could  never  forgive. 
O  dii  immortales  !  what  should  he  do  ?  How  could  he 
ever  have  been  so  fooled  !  One  thing  was  certain — they 
should  smart  for  it.  This  saucy  clerk  should  know  the 
weight  of  his  anger.  Charley  was  fond  of  letting  a  horse 
feel  the  curb,  as  he  expressed  it.  Ah !  here  the  fellow 
came — smiling!  villanously  smiling! 

"  By  George,  man!  you  seem  uncommon  jolly  to-day  ; 
you  have  heard  a  joke,  I  see.  Suppose  you  tell  us  about 
it.  I'll  bet  my  head  against  your  noddle  the  listener  was 
a  darn  sight  worse  than  the  story."  Charley  pushed  his 
victim  toward  the  fence  as  he  spoke,  so  as  to  make  sure 
of  him. 

"  Je  ne  suis  pas  demoiselle,  ni  belle, 
Et  je  n'ai  pas  besoiu  qu'on  m'amune," 


276  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

repeated  Louis,  with  a  quiet  laugh  at  the  other's  discour 
teous  touch.  "  As  you  say,  the  joke  is  excellent." 

Though  no  French  scholar,  Mr.  Pelican  easily  guessed 
that  the  quotation  had  some  reference  to  his  late  misfor 
tune.  It  added  fuel  to  the  flame.  To  be  laughed  at  in 
an  unknown  language  was  beyond  endurance.  He 
tapped  his  boot  with  his  cane  angrily.  "  If  you've  got 
anything  to  say,  don't  mumble  it  in  that  gibberish  ;  any 
fool  can  do  that !  Do  ye  hear  ?  " 

Now  it  was  rumored  about  that  Pelican  was  giving  his 
clerk  "  a  going-over,"  and  people  were  collecting  near, 
full  of  that  vulgar  curiosity  which  loves  to  see  the 
humiliation  of  the  superior  and  unfortunate.  Louis 
writhed  under  it;  there  was  an  expression  about  his 
almost  womanly  delicate  mouth,  that  promised  ill  to  his 
antagonist.  But  his  only  reply  was  a  graceful  bow.  He 
was  one  of  those  slender,  evenly  proportioned  men,  who 
bend  as  handsomely  as  a  stalk  of  grain  before  the  wind. 
It  is  their  natural  gesture.  The  act  exasperated  Charley 
from  a  sudden  consciousness  of  this  very  fact.  Anger 
irradiates  its  object  as  a  torch  while  it  consumes  our 
selves  ;  and  light  in  its  nature  must  catch  upon  the 
salient  points,  be  they  beauties,  or  the  reverse. 

"  You  may  think  you're  smart,"  pursued  young  Peli 
can,  "  but  I'll  have  you  to  know  I'm  boss ;  and  I  won't 
submit  to  sass,  either.  It's  bad  policy  to  quarrel  with 
one's  bread  and  butter." 

Louis  bowed  again.  He  was  too  angry  to  risk  a  word, 
and  prepared  to  depart.  I  cannot  picture  the  cool,  polite 
scorn  concentrated  into  that  bow ;  but  Charley  felt  it  to 
the  marrow  of  his  bones.  He  shouted  after  the  obeisant 
an  oath,  and  an  insinuation  touching  his  manhood. 
Then  Louis  came  back.  The  more  my  boy  grew  angry, 
the  calmer  he  seemed.  Even  now,  his  voice  was  low, 


8UIFTLESS  FOLKS.  277 

and  every  syllable  distinct.  He  picked  up  and  restored 
the  cane  Charley  dropped,  with  the  same  courtesy  he 
would  have  used  toward  Mollie.  "  Mr.  Pelican,  I  do 
not  desire  to  remain  in  your  employment.  A  man  who 
cannot  conduct  himself  with  propriety,  cannot  command 
others.  Also  you  insult  defenceless  women."  He  walked 
away  without  another  word,  or  even  look  at  the  object  of 
his  displeasure.  A  god  sat  in  his  eyes.  He  was  master, 
and  he  knew  it. 

Unfortunately  he  strode  into  the  arms  of  the  village 
constable,  and  Mr.  Cymbalinus  Adolphus  Brown,  who 
came  up  at  that  instant. 

"I  have  been  looking  everywhere  for  you,  Mr.  All- 
wood,"  said  the  official.  "  I  want  to  bring  you  before 
Squire  Hitchcock  to  answer  fur  last  night's  spree.  It 
was  drefful  curless  of  you  to  do  such  a  trick,  but  I  hope 
you'll  go  agreeable,  and  not  make  no  fuss."  He  was  a 
short,  red-haired,  round-faced  man,  who  looked  rotund  in 
his  clothes,  like  a  bran-stuffed  pin-cushion ;  but  Louis 
wasn't  thinking  of  his  circular  dignity ;  his  shame  had 
come  personified  upon  him.  Pity  Charley  could  not 
have  seen  his  humiliation. 

"  On  whose  charge  ?  "  asked  the  arrested  meekly.  It 
was  so  opposite  to  his  morning's  repentance,  he  took  it 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  never  thought  of  resistance. 

"  Deacon  McCross's,  Deacon  Elizur  McCross's,"  ut 
tered  the  representative  of  law  through  a  little  round, 
purple  mouth,  like  a  half-open  petunia,  and  speaking 
with  emphatic  deliberation,  so  that  the  prisoner  might 
feel  that  justice  was  mighty,  even  enwrapped  in  fat. 
"  Deacon  E.  McCross,  and  Mrs.  Miranda  McCross. 
'Taint  nowise  likely  you  hain't  heerd  ov  what  they  wanter 
see  to,  so  please  to  come  along." 

"  Did  he,  Mr.  McCross,  send  you  himself  ?  "  questioned 


278  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Louis,  who  could  hardly  believe  it  of  the  kind-hearted 
old  man. 

"  He  just  did,"  said  the  constable,  expanding  his  chest 
as  he  supposed,  but  really  only  bringing  into  relief  a  more 
prominent  development,  "  an'  he  said  he  was  goin'  to 
have  the  law  out  of  you  too." 

The  young  fellow  shivered.  To  be  brought  up  like  a 
common  drunkard  !  It  was  a  shame  he  could  never 
forget. 

"  Of  course  you'll  plead  guilty,"  said  Cabby,  button 
holing  him. 

"  I  don't  propose  to  deny  facts,"  quoth  Louis,  annoyed 
at  being  spoken  to.  "  I  suppose  a  fine  will  satisfy  the 
authorities." 

"  I  should  think  so,  certainly,"  said  Mr.  Brown. 
"  When  I  travelled  in  Europe  with  a  pahty,  I  recollecb 
being  awested  as  a  Fenian  spy.  Had  to  have  wecourse 
to  the  American  consul.  I  assure  you,  it  was  vewy  un 
pleasant — vewy !  " 

This  was  putting  it  in  a  less  disgraceful  light,  or  ap 
peared  to  be.  Louis'  downcast  face  brightened  like  a 
tell-tale,  as  it  was. 

"  Of  cowose  the  less  fuss  you  make  about  the  matter, 
the  less  noise  thaah  will  be  in  town,"  pursued  the  law 
yer,  who  had  a  dog-like  skill  at  countenance-reading. 
"  I  would  like  to  be  of  sehvice  to  you,  on  account  of  my 
friendship  with  that  pahticulah  stah,  Miss  Mollie.  The 
chahge,  you  know,  is  burglary,  but  it  is  all  a  fahce, 
gotten  up  through  the  madam's  temper.  Miss  Petingil 
met  me  a  few  moments  ago,  and  told  me  the  circumstances 
of  the  case." 

His  guilelessness  once  laid  the  sharpest-sighted  spirit 
in  all  heaven  open  to  imposture,  if  Milton  be  correct; 
Louis  had  the  same  quality,  and  was  consequently  duped. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  279 

Besides,  Mrs.  McCross'  tool  played  his  part  very  well. 
They  had  not  had  their  morning's  consultation  in  vain. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,"  cried  the  pure-hearted 
boy,  warmly,  wondering  how  he  could  ever  have  had 
such  a  thorough  contempt  for  the  insignificant  dandy. 
"  You  are  very  kind." 

t{  Not  at  all !  not  at  all  1 "  said  Cabby,  airily,  with 
more  truth  than  appeared. 

They  reached  Squire  Hitchcock's  office,  and  that  gen 
tleman  heard  the  evidence  with  as  much  decorum  as  if 
he  had  not  been  engaged  in  Charley's  little  game  two 
hours  before.  Louis  sat  down  and  thought  the  matter 
over.  Should  he  plead  guilty  and  suffer,  or  bide  his 
time  and  fight  it  out  ?  For  it  presently  appeared  that  it 
was  no  matter  of  fines  and  reproofs.  In  the  one  case, 
his  name  would  be  a  hissing  and  reproach ;  in  the  other, 
Mollie's  home  rendered  wretched,  and  her  parents  ridicu 
lous.  The  brave  reticence  she  had  maintained  in  regard 
to  her  family  discomforts  could  be  no  veil  to  Louis,  and 
he  knew  that  determined  opposition  would  be  then 
merged  into  active  persecution ;  for  it  must  be  that  the 
right  would  have  way  if  he  waited  his  trial.  He  reflected 
that  his  name  would  one  day  be  his  love's  also — a  fact 
now  remembered  afresh  after  years  of  forgetting.  But 
profound  emotion  is  a  flood  that  tears  away  surface  for 
mations,  regardless  of  the  substrata  revealed.  Louis  re 
solved  to  assert  his  innocence,  and  said,  "  Not  guilty," 
firmly. 

It  appeared  that  on  the  date  of  the  burglary  Deacon 
McCross  had  lost  some  eighty  dollars  in  bills,  the  same 
having  been  drawn  the  day  before  from  the  bank,  in  order 
to  pay  certain  household  expenses.  Mrs.  McCross  accused 
Louis  of  breaking  in  and  stealing  the  same,  which  charge 
she  supported  by  several  witnesses :  the  gardener,  who 


280  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

had  observed  him  about  the  place ;  the  cook,  who  had 
overheard  the  angry  interview ;  a  tailor,  to  whom  he  had 
that  morning  paid  the  same  amount ;  the  clerk  of  the 
Millville  House,  who  had  seen  him  come  in,  pale  and 
agitated,  shortly  after  the  supposed  time  of  the  robbery; 
and  more  to  the  same  effect. 

This  sufficed  for  commitment.  "  Have  you  any  friends, 
willing  to  give  bail  ?  "  asked  Squire  Hitchcock,  when  the 
examination  was  concluded. 

Louis  walked  over  to  the  window, — a  dirty  window, 
full — he  always  remembered — of  large,  buzzing  flies. 
He  looked  down  on  the  bright  little  street,  crowded  with 
busy  people  hurrying  about,  on  the  tradesmen,  and  Gone- 
cussets,  and  gentlemen  farmers,  and  rough  workmen,  and 
factory  hands,  all  pushing,  and  jostling,  and  bargaining — 
every  man  with  his  heart  full  of  his  own  cares. 

Mrs.  McCross  had  brought  my  boy  up  well ;  in  all  the 
noisy,  happy  town,  he  had  few  acquaintances — not  one 
friend.  So  he  came  back  to  the  ash-littered,  fire-empty, 
tobacco-stained  stove,  where  the  men  sat  waiting.  "  I 
will  not  trouble  any  one,"  said  he. 

"  Jest  as  well,"  responded  the  Squire.  "  Your  case'll 
be  up  next  week  before  Superior  Court.  It's  about 
through  the  docket,  so  you  don't  have  to  wait  long ;  an' 
your  board  won't  cost  you  nuthin'  meanwhile,  you  know. 
He,  he !  " 

The  magistrate,  who  hadn't  given  up  hopes  of  getting 
rid  of  Euphemia,  glared  at  Mr.  Brown ;  and  Mr.  Brown, 
who  wanted  to  borrow  money  of  the  magistrate,  snick 
ered,  with  his  chin  on  his  cane,  and  Louis  drew  himself 
up  haughtily,  and  said  he  was  ready  to  go. 

So  they  took  him  to  the  jail ;  and,  except  that  the  cells 
were  dirty,  and  the  ventilation  poor,  he  suffered  in  body 
less  than  might  be  expected. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  281 

He  knew  nothing  of  law ;  his  dear  piano,  and  dearer 
books,  had  absorbed  far  too  much  time  to  admit  of  great 
worldly  experience.  Even  the  Top  Town  life  had  been  a 
surface  gliding  among  treacherous  marshes  and  bogs  ;  but, 
marsh-like,  all  had  looked  green  and  fair  a-top.  There 
were  miasma  and  boles,  and  vermin  in  plenty ;  but  he  had 
walked  around  on  the  made  ground  of  wealth  and  position, 
— hadn't  slipped  in.  He  felt  certain  his  innocence  would 
be  established.  He  knew  the  evidence  against  him  was 
very  slight,  and  had,  besides,  an  instinctive  idea  that 
right  would  triumph  because  it  was  right.  True,  he 
couldn't  tell  upon  what  he  founded  his  hopes,  unless  it 
was  a  general  faith  in  human  nature.  But  human  na 
ture,  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adam,  No.  1  Paradise  Row,  dis 
covered  a  long  time  since,  is  poor  stuff.  Louis'  impres 
sions  were  further  strengthened  by  a  visit  from  Mr. 
Brown,  who  assured  him  that  he  would  certainly  clear 
himself  without  difficulty,  and,  moreover,  advised  him  to 
save  his  money  and  plead  his  own  cause,  assuring  him 
that  the  case  was  too  plain  to  make  legal  aid  necessary. 

Now  Louis  had  nothing  wherewith  to  pay  a  lawyer ; 
one  ten-dollar  bill  at  that  moment  comprising  his  whole 
finances.  He  therefore  accepted  the  advice  thankfully, 
and  made  up  his  mind  to  tell  his  honest  story  and  await 
the  issue. 

Peace  Pelican  called  the  next  day  with  Mollie  McCross. 
She  wore  the  charity  uniform,  whereby  she  had  so  vexed 
her  unsuspecting  brother,  and  looked  as  regal  as  ever.  I 
have  never  seen  a  more  strikingly  handsome  brunette 
than  Peace.  The  superb  coloring  of  her  face,  her  large, 
lustrous  eyes,  but  especially  her  finely  moulded  features, 
which  could  express  the  utmost  merriment,  hauteur,  dig. 
nity,  or  compassion,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  made 
the  pleasure  of  watching  her  amount  to  fascination.  In 


282  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

her  presence,  one  thought  of  odorous  hot  spices,  of  great 
tropical  flowers  whose  breath  is  heavy  with  fragrance,  of 
flamingoes,  and  stately  palm-trees,  and  jer-falcons,  and  all 
manner  of  things  that  express  beauty,  courage,  and  in 
tense  life. 

The  friends  found  Louis  studying  criminal  character, 
with  a  view  to  future  practice  at  the  bar  ;  and  upon  his 
telling  them  so,  sat  down  in  front  of  his  cell  on  two 
stools,  which  Mr.  Marsh,  the  jailer,  brought  them,  and 
straightway  plunged  contentedly  into  castle-building — 
which  culminated  in  Louis'  being  Chief  Justice  of  United 
States,  and  Mollie's  appearance  in  black  velvet  and  dia 
monds;  simultaneously  with  Peace's  buying  three  coun 
try  houses  for  caravansaries,  to  be  adorned  with  rows  of 
orphan  children  in  ruffled  aprons,  overlooked  by  herself, 
in  cap  and  spectacles.  It  was  so  sweet  to  forget  the 
horrible  years  of  want  now  past,  and  once  more  go  forth 
into  dream-life,  haud-in-hand  with  Louis ;  so  passing 
sweet  to  realize  that  they  could  still  build  rainbow-cas 
tles  together,  that  the  actual  speaking,  doing,  wearying, 
going  up  and  down  in  the  years,  had  not  been  a  gradual 
drifting  apart ;  that  the,  to  them,  better  defined,  more 
tangible  thought-life,  was  not  a  severed,  maimed  existence 
to  both.  Mollie  basked  in  the  recovered  joy,  and  grew 
gay,  and  playful,  and  girlish  in  her  lover's  presence. 

By  and  by  Peace  became  troubled.  Charley,  she  said, 
had  vowed  vengeance  against  his  former  companion,  and 
called  on  Mrs.  McCross,  in  spite  of  all  she  could  do  and 
say  to  the  contrary ;  had  been  seen  drinking  with  the 
abstemious  Mr.  Brown  ;  and  was  under  the  influence  of 
liquor  most  of  the  time. 

Whereupon  Mollie  changed  into  her  every-day,  care- 
burdened  self,  and  begged  Louis  to  be  wary,  for  her  father 
and  mother  seemed  very  sure  of  his  conviction. 


BUIFTLKBS  FOLKS.  283 

But  he  laughed  at  their  fears,  and  kissed  her  hands 
through  the  bars,  and  added  his  entreaties  to  her  parent's 
commands,  that  she  should  not  appear  as  witness.  There 
was  no  need  to  have  their  affairs  made  common  property, 
he  said.  How  could  they  prove  a  thing  that  wasn't  so  ? 
And  he  playfully  quoted  poetry  for  her  consolement,  be 
ginning  with — 

"  Desponding  fear,  of  feeble  fancies  full, 
Weak  and  unmanly,  loosens  every  power ;  " 

and  gently  sliding  into  Wordsworth : 

"  What  are  fears  but  voices  airy,  whispering  harm  where  harm 
is  not?" 

Mollie  smiled  because  she  loved  him,  and,  to  her,  all 
his  ways  were  pleasantness ;  but  the  worry  didn't  get  out 
of  her  truthful  eyes,  and  when,  as  Peace  put  it,  he  had 
shot  his  last  arrow,  she  still  looked  anxiously  into  his 
face. 

"  What !  dearest  of  trouble-borrowers,  are  you  still  un 
convinced  ?  Don't  you  know — 

"  Care  to  our  coffin  adds  a  nail,  no  doubt, 
And  every  grin  so  merry  draws  one  out  ?  " 

She  stood  submitting  to  the  light  touch  with  which  he 
drew  mirthful  lines  about  her  fresh,  sweet  mouth,  as  if 
she  loved  it.  "  You  will  be  cautious,  Louis,  won't  you  ?  " 
she  ui'ged,  when  he  stepped  backhand  regarded  his  work 
with  a  serio-comic  shake  of  the  head.  But  he  wouldn't 
promise,  or  do  anything  except  enact  the  maniac  by  help 
of  the  bars  of  his  cell ;  so  the  two  women  could  only  go 
home  heavy-hearted,  and  talk  about  hope. 

Leaving  the  prison  they  met  Deacon  McCross ;  but  he 
slunk  toward  tlie  wall,  and  wouldn't  look  at  them.  He 
had  a  milder,  balder,  more  cowed-down  air  than  ever,  to 


284  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Peace's  mind ;  but  being  one  of  those  people  who  never 
bestow  confidences  with  rough  edges,  she  made  no  com 
ment  thereon  to  her  friend. 

Finally  the  day  of  the  trial  came.  The  jurymen  were 
personally  unknown  to  Louis ;  but  the  State's  attorney, 
under  Cabby's  manipulations,  had  called  on  him,  and 
advised  him  to  plead  guilty.  The  Judge,  too,  had  been 
interviewed  by  the  McCrosses  in  a  friendly  way  ;  and 
before  the  prisoner  came  into  court,  every  one's  mind  was 
made  up  against  him. 

It  is  odd  that  the  very  alleviations  to  real  guilt,  when 
that  guilt  is  merely  conjectural,  are  made  to  certify  to  it. 

"  Poor  fellow  !  I  suppose  he  needed  the  money." 

"  Yes,  some  folks  think  that,  an'  a  good  deal  more  of 
the  McCross  property,  would  change  hands  if  justice  had 
way.  Likely  he  thought  he  had  a  right  to  it." 

"  How  kinder  peaked  he  looks.  Don't  seem  stout 
enough  to  work.  They  dew  say,  Mrs.  McCross  wa'n't 
nun  too  good  to  him  when  he  lived  there  ;  always  shuttin' 
him  up,  an'  snubbin'  him ;  he  wa'n't  never  let  to  set  on 
the  best  chairs,  nor  nuthin'.  When  I  got  away  I'd  ha' 
had  one  good  time  ef  I'd  'a  ben  be." 

From  these  remarks  it  may  be  correctly  concluded 
that  the  Millville  ladies  were  out  in  force  ;  less,  however, 
from  interest  in  Louis,  than  dislike  of  Mrs.  McCross. 

It  struck  the  accused  as  strange,  that  Cabby,  his  open- 
hearted  champion,  should  appear  for  the  prosecution  ;  but 
he  felt  so  hurt  at  Charley  Pelican's  conduct,  that  the  out 
side  treachery  seemed  nothing.  His  estranged  companion, 
called  as  plaintiff's  witness,  testified  hurriedly  and  noisily 
that  defendant's  past  life  had  been  open  to  suspicion ;  his 
habits  expensive,  his  temper  of  late  uncertain;  that  he 
was  drunk  the  night  of  the  burglary — they  had  been 
drinking  together. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  285 

Deacon  McCross  said  he  had  lost  the  money,  and  was 
sorry  for  the  whole  matter,  and  wished  he  hadn't  got 
nothin'  to  do  with  it.  The  night  of  the  trouble  he  had 
invited  his  ward  to  his  house,  but  he  didn't  think  he  was 
layin'  plans  to  rob  him,  the  very  time.  He  looked  so 
bald  and  mild  and  miserable,  that  every  one's  heart  steeled 
against  Louis  directly.  All  the  moral  half  of  the  audi 
ence  bethought  them  of  serpents'  eggs,  dogs  that  bite  the 
hand,  and  so  on;  while  the  immoral  half  said  it  was  a 
darn  mean  trick  for  any  one  to  play  such  a  kind-hearted 
old  chap. 

Mrs.  McCross'  account  was  worthy  of  her  genius. 
She  had  heard  a  noise  in  the  night,  and  got  up  to  examine 
the  premises,  and  found  a  window  open,  and  became 
aware  at  the  same  moment  that  some  one  was  lurking 
close  to  the  house.  On  perceiving  himself  observed,  he 
had  the  impudence  to  begin  a  song,  and  when  she  ordered 
him  off,  insulted  her  and  broke  her  windows.  No  one 
else  had  been  about  the  house,  and  she  found  the  prints 
of  muddy  boots  on  her  floor  next  morning,  clear  up  to 
the  drawer  where  the  money  had  been  placed.  She 
further  spoke  of  missing  tea-spoons  during  her  ward's 
sojourn  under  her  roof,  and  said,  in  conclusion,  that  she 
had  prayed  much  that  he  might  be  plucked  as  a  brand 
from  the  burning,  yea,  saved  as  by  fire ;  but  she  feared 
her  faith  was  vain. 

At  this  juncture  Miss  Petingil,  who  had  spared  a  day 
for  the  trial,  remarked  to  her  neighbors  that  it  was  pe 
culiar  of  them  Price  gels  to  pray  for  folks  they  was  a 
plaguin'  on ;  and  added,  "  How  folks  ken !  "  and  took 
snuff  on  it  in  her  snippiest  way. 

Then  Bridget  deposed  that,  returning  home  with  her 
cousin,  she  stopped  to  do  a  bit  of  sparkin'  by  the  gate, 
and  so  overheard  the  latter  part  of  the  quarrel.  Yesj 


286  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

she  had  swept  up  the  foot-prints,  and  remarked  at  the 
time  how  small  and  slender  they  were. 

Then  they  made  Louis  step  out,  and  show  his  arched, 
haughty  little  foot,  that  part  and  parcel  of  his  make-up 
was  so  perfectly  formed ;  and  the  stamping  cowhide-boot 
ed  farmer -jury  laughed  sneeringly,  and  were  glad  in  their 
secret  hearts  that  they  could  count  it  down  against  him. 

What  between  this  testimony,  and  Pat's,  which  con 
firmed  his  mistress's,  and  the  evidence  of  hangers-on  at 

• 

the  Cereus,  who  corroborated  Charley's  deposition,  the 
prosecution  had  things  quite  their  own  way. 

All  day  long,  Louis  had  held  a  half-formed  resolution 
to  send  for  Mollie,  who  most  unwillingly  yielded  to  his 
wish,  and  her  parents'  command,  in  staying  away.  He 
didn't  know  that  she  could  help  him,  but  he  felt  that  he 
needed  her  presence.  He  hadn't  given  up  hope  ;  but  his 
heart  was  growing  very  faint,  and  he  could  gain  strength 
from  her  calm,  earnest  faith  in  him.  When  at  length  the 
Judge  called  for  the  defendant's  witnesses,  he  rose  to  ex 
plain,  and  send  for  her,  but  at  this  moment  the  bent  form 
of  Deacon  McCross  presented  itself  beside  him. 

"  Be  you  goiii'  to  have  Mollie  on  ?  "  asked  the  old 
man  in  an  anxious  tone. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Louis,  "  that  is  my  intention." 

"  Don't,"  said  the  Deacon,  earnestly.  "  I've  always 
ben  kind  to  you.  I  wouldn't  ha'  sworn  what  I  did,  ef 
Mirandy  hadn't  made  me.  Don't  send  for  Mollie ;  think 
how  Miraiidy'll  fly  at  her.  She  can't  prove  you  didn't 
steal  it,  you  know." 

True,  she  couldn't  prove  that ;  Mrs.  McCross  knew 
better  than  any  one  else,  better  than  Louis,  what  she 
could  prove  of  intercepted  letters,  betrayed  trusts,  sys 
tematic  plottings  and  deceptions ;  and  the  good  lady 
watched  the  success  of  her  little  stratagem  with  no  small 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  287 

anxiety.  She  had  not  to  wait  long.  Her  victim  rose 
full  of  the  generous  impulse  of  youth,  and  answered  firmly, 
"  Except  God,  I  have  no  witness  of  my  innocence." 

"  Have  you  no  defence,"  said  the  Judge,  with  pity  in 
his  professional  voice. 

And  he  answered,  "  I  have  nothing  in  these  people's 
testimony  to  deny,  except  that  I  am  a  thief." 

The  evidence  was  slight,  too  slight  it  seems  to  me, 
though  a  lawyer  of  forty  years'  standing  lately  assured 
me  that  it  was  a  very  strong  case.  Any  wise  the  jury  had 
been  industriously  worked  by  Cabby,  who  was  urged  on 
by  mean  jealousy  of  an  old  rival,  cupidity,  and  the  hope 
of  gaining  a  little  practice  by  success,  and  made  a  willing 
tool  in  Mrs.  McCross'  hands.  The  defendant,  poor — a 
mere  stripling — estranged  from  the  only  friends  on  whom 
he  could  rely  by  right,  had,  we  have  seen,  nothing  to  urge 
in  denial.  They  brought  in  a  hasty  verdict  of  "  guilty," 
and  Judge  Sistaire  rose  to  pronounce  the  sentence,  "  Im 
prisonment  for  three  years." 

He  was  a  man  who  "  had  been  tender-hearted  in  this 
matter  of  punishment,  but  was  used  to  it  now."  He  felt 
many  doubts  about  the  matter;  but  there  was  no  more 
light  to  be  had,  and  the  case  had  no  contradictions ;  law 
was  law,  and  this,  after  all,  only  business.  Why  !  if  he 
had  every  verdict  to  his  satisfaction  he  wouldn't  render  a 
dozen  decisions  in  a  twelvemonth ;  he  made  fewer  mis 
takes  than  any  confrere  in  the  State.  But  he  said,  after 
ward,  that  the  mute  agony  in  that  young  face  was  so  ter 
rible,  that  he  would  have  given — well,  the  costs  of  the 
suit  to  reverse  his  decision.  But  it  was  too  late. 

When  the  words  were  spoken  the  court-room  was  very 
still.  The  whole  mass  of  humanity  turned  toward  the 
stripling  justice  condemned  to  suffer. 

He  put  his  hands  before  his  face  to  shut  out  that  ter- 


288  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

rible  concentrated  gaze.  The  air  grew  black  and  thick 
about  him.  He  felt  that  he  must  shriek.  In  the  effort 
to  keep  silence,  the  world  receded  from  his  grasp. 

"  Oh  !  Mollie  !  Mollie  !  "  he  cried,  hoarsely,  and  then 
— and  then  they  picked  him  up  and  brought  him  back  to 
life  with  extremest  care,  to  have  opportunity  to  make 
good  their  sentence. 

"  'Tain't  no  use  to  send  that  feller  to  prison,"  remarked 
a  rough-looking  man  to  his  companion.  "  Bless  you, 
they  hain't  nothing  for  him  to  do ;  he  can't  never  make 
shoes." 

"  MILLVILLE  JAIL.  September  30^. 

"  DEAB  MOLLIE, — Our  troubles  are  upon  us,  but  we 
will  not  lose  hope.  I  am  sustained  by  your  love.  Don't 
visit  me  at  Top  Town.  You  would  never  forget  me  in 
thief's  uniform,  and  my  wife  mustn't  have  such  memories. 
Write  as  often  as  you  can.  My  Mollie,  I  love  you  always, 
my  faith,  my  hope,  my  wife. 

"Louis  ALLWOOD." 

She  couldn't  let  him  go  so,  and  in  spite  of  father  and 
mother,  came  to  the  jail  to  see  him  before  he  was  taken 
away.  Poor  children !  They  tried  to  console  each  other, 
but  comfort  died  on  their  lips.  There  is  no  comfort,  no 
mercy,  for  such  as  they. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  289 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

"  Swim,  swam,  swum." 

ILLVILLE  was  all  excitement.  There  had  been 
an  overseer  killed  in  the  Penitentiary,  and  they 
BU^HeSi  had  brought  down  the  murderer  to  the  county 
jail,  and  were  going  to  hang  him.  Mrs.  McCross  and 
Mrs.  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Hitchcock  begged  tickets  for  tho 
show  and  got  them ;  but  Mrs.  Williams  bestirred  herself 
too  late,  and  had  to  buy  her  entrance  like  the  rest  of  the 
jail-yard  audience,  while  Pay  son  took  in  the  lesson  from 
the  crowded  parapet  of  the  neighboring  bridge. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eventful  day,  Susy  Jenkens — 
since  Mrs.  Hauxhurst,  met  Captain  Slocum,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  unburden  her  heart  touching  the  matter.  He 
didn't  seem  to  respond  very  freely,  for  a  man  of  his 
known  good-hearted,  liberal  views,  and  Squire  Hitchcock 
joined  the  group. 

"  They  abused  the  man ;  flogged  him,  kept  him  in  soli 
tary  confinement  till  he  was  desperate.  They  maltreat 
the  prisoners.  The  very  brutes  are  kinder  to  each  other 
than  men,"  cried  she,  excitedly.  "TJiey  never  shut 
a  fellow-animal  up  for  the  pleasure  of  deliberately  tor 
turing." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  the  Captain,  plunging 
his  hands  deep  in  his  trouser  pockets,  and  chewing  a  straw. 
"  Our  old  cat  had  kittens  the  other  day,  and  do  you  know, 
she  ate  one  of  'em  up." 

"  The  fact  is,"  seeing  Susy  look  hurt  at  this  application 
of  natural  history,  "  we  mean  to  have  prison-birds  suffer. 
We  put  them  there  on  purpose." 

"  But  they  don't  try  to  make  them  better,"  said  the 
13 


290.  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

dear,  simple  girl ;  "  they  don't  even  teach  them  to  read. 
The  men  always  grow  worse.  It  is  a  certainty." 

She  was  actually  shocked  when  Mr.  Hitchcock  rejoined, 
"  They  ain't  sent  there  to  grow  better.  You  don't  suppose 
we  honest  folks  mean  to  feed  such  truck  on  oyster  soup 
and  mock-turtle  ?  We  set  out  to  have  'em  wretched  if  we 
can." 

"  And  the  system  will  never  be  altered,  because  it  will 
take  time  and  money,  and  after-trouble ;  and  honest 
men  won't  be  plagued  when  their  enemies  are  so  cheaply 
and  conveniently  disposed  of  already,"  added  Captain 
Slocum,  testily.  "  Jerusalem  crickets  I  Why  should 
we?" 

At  this  point  both  gentlemen  looked  uneasy  and  walked 
away,  and  Mary  McCross  went  by,  meek  and  humble, 
with  her  head  down  and  her  face  averted.  The  voices 
had  been  loud ;  she  must  have  heard  every  word. 

A  day  or  so  afterward,  Amos  told  his  teacher  that  he 
knew  of  two  men  that  had  died  under  the  abuse  at  Top 
Town,  and  two  more  made  idiotic.  "  Now,  Miss  Mollie," 
said  he,  "  why  don't  they  bring  the  warden  down,  and 
hang  him  ?  " 

The  winter  had  been  unexampled  in  severity.  The 
frosts  of  November  were  followed  by  sleighing  at  Christ 
mas  ;  and  the  February  snows  piled  themselves  far  above 
fences  and  cow-sheds,  from  Maine  to  Massachusetts. 
Now,  in  March,  came  a  terrible  storm,  and  then  a  sudden 
thaw.  Down  rushed  the  winter's  accumulated  drifts, 
swelling  brooks  and  rivers  into  flood,  carrying  away 
bridges,  and  sweeping  off  cattle,  and  dams,  and  mills,  in 
one  horrible  destruction.  Of  course  no  one  had  thought 
it  worth  while  to  dyke  Syllabub,  though  a  scant  rise  of 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  291 

Roaring  River  always  laid  it  under  water ;  and  now  pig 
pens  floated  airily  down  stream,  and  people  sailed  out  of 
their  second-story  windows  if  they  could  afford  it,  or 
starved  quietly  in  garrets  if  they  couldn't.  The  town 
hall  was  thrown  open  to  those  whose  houses  were  quite 
untenable ;  and  the  Millville  ladies  gave  blankets  and 
clothing  which  were  dutifully  wasted ;  and  the  Gonecus- 
sets  donated  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  soup  to  the 
sufferers — a  fact  publicly  blazoned  in  the  newspapers,  and 
then  assessed  the  sum  privately  on  their  workmen,  which 
nobody  knew  anything  about. 

The  whole  town  came  out  to  admire  the  new  Venice, 
and  perhaps  try  a  row  through  its  submerged  streets. 
The  windows  and  stairways  were  crowded  with  women 
and  children.  Through  the  canals  flashed  the  boat  loads 
of  excited  inhabitants;  carts  piled  with  furniture  and 
people  ploughed  their  way  laboriously  about  the  shallower 
water ;  jests  were  thrown  from  skiff  to  skiff;  and  people, 
much  fortified  as  to  the  inner  man  in  consideration  of  the 
diluents  without,  abandoned  themselves  to  hilarity.  The 
saloons  were  crowded  with  drinkers,  and  every  now  and 
then  rang  forth  a  shout  at  the  expense  of  some  involun 
tary  Baptist,  or  courageous  swimmer  and  wader.  Tired 
of  waiting  for  help,  young  folk  trusted  themselves  in  ex 
traordinary  craft,  and  tubs,  half  barrels,  and  rafts  floated 
wildly  about.  Half  the  young  men  emptied  their  pockets 
for  flags,  and  the  children  continually  stumbled  into  cel 
lar-ways,  and  had  to  be  fished  out  by  their  fond  parents. 

Amos,  who  wouldn't  have  been  Amos  if  he  hadn't 
owned  a  rickety  boat,  plied  his  oars  all  day  for  the  penni 
less  inhabitants,  and  took  his  pay  out  of  Doppy's  smiles, 
when  after  much  urging  she  consented  to  be  rowed  over, 
"jest  onct,"  for  a  bread-and-butter  trip  up-town,  and  a 
visit  to  Fir  Covert. 


292  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Corning  back  with  a  singing,  shouting  load  of  work 
men,  his  pleasant  meditations  were  rudely  interrupted, 
when,  from  a  window  above,  Aleck  Heffron  turned  a 
pan  of  cold  water  upon  them.  Aleck  had  grown  into  a 
slender,  handsome  fellow,  rivalling  Hugh  in  clog-dancing, 
and  everywhere  laughed  at  as  the  warm  admirer  of  pretty 
faces,  practical  jokes,  and — Aleck  Heffron.  He  had 
rather  worked  away  from  the  old  place  in  the  trio  :  pos 
sessing  neither  Amos'  steadiness,  nor  Hugh's  unfailing 
good-humor ;  nor,  perhaps,  going  on  hand  in  hand  in  the 
upward -tending  self-denials,  that  the  boy  puts  on  one  by 
one  as  he  matures  into  true  manhood.  Still  he  was  one 
of  "  the  fellows,"  and  got  well  cursed  for  his  prank  accord 
ingly. 

"  I  was  afeared  ye  might  be  forgettiu'  yer  friends," 
was  his  tranquil  reply. 

"  Ef  I  don't  pay  ye  fur  that,  my  name  ain't  Dennis," 
said  Hugh,  seizing  a  dipper  floating  by,  and  hastily  de 
taching  a  dead  hen  tied  by  a  long  string  to  the  handle. 
"  Leave  me  out,  boys  ;  I'm  after  him." 

"  It  would  even  us  wid  'em  both,  to  row  away,"  sug 
gested  the  red-headed  insurrectionist  of  Patience  of  Hope 
memory,  who  had  now  got  half  way  through  a  black 
smith's  apprenticeship.  Amos  was  not  the  man  to  refuse 
good  advice. 

As  it  happened,  Mrs.  Dennis  had  been  visiting  her 
friends,  "  a  bit,"  and  her  son  stood  aghast  to  encounter 
her  on  the  stairs.  She  instantly  determined  to  save  her 
quarter-passage  money,  and  be  carried  home  on  Hugh's 
back.  Accordingly  she  stayed  only  to  tuck  up  her  ample 
petticoats,  and  without  waiting  permission,  precipitated 
herself  on  his  shoulders.  They  were  in  the  middle  of 
the  street  before  she  remembered  her  bundle. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  293 

"  The  pertatees !  Hughey  Dinnis  !  left  on  the  stairs, 
and  not  a  sup  of  dinner  can  ye  have  without  'em." 

But  our  good  lady  proved  no  light  weight,  and  just 
then  a  mocking  shout  from  the  boat,  with  shrill  whistles, 
and  cries  of  "  Crocodile,"  "  Shoo-fly,"  "  Hurrah  for 
Woman's  Rights,"  proved  too  much  for  equanimity. 

"  Stand  still  now,  while  I  go  back  an'  git  'em,"  said 
he,  promptly  dropping  her  to  wade  as  she  could,  and  re 
joining  his  companions  to  receive  a  dozen  offers  of  lodging 
on  the  spot. 

With  such  jests,  the  light-hearted  Hibernians  beguiled 
the  miseries  of  the  situation ;  and  Amos  had  for  his 
next  load  the  city  missionary,  who  dispensed  bread  from 
Roaring  River  friends,  and  a  new  tract  on  Noah,  written 
for  the  occasion  by  Mrs.  Dr.  Perfect,  and  published 
through  the  private  subscription  of  her  associates. 

At  night  the  scene  became  even  more  animated  :  lights 
flashed  from  the  open  windows  of  houses,  in  which  every 
known  instrument,  from  a  Jew's-harp  to  a  bag-pipe,  was 
put  in  requisition ;  and,  without,  tin  horns  and  penny 
trumpets  hooted  in  unison.  The  rum  shops  invested 
largely  in  cheap  fire-works,  and  the  street  corners  were 
hung  with  lanterns,  to  expose  the  otherwise  unseen  lamp 
posts.  The  boats,  no  longer  needed  for  business, 
carried  parties  of  pleasure -seekers,  who  sang,  or  beat 
drums,  or  howled,  as  taste  might  incline;  and  their 
torches  flared  red  upon  the  faces  of  the  crew,  and  lit  up 
the  ripples  of  the  black  oily  water,  only  to  make  succeed 
ing  darkness  wilder,  and  every  now  and  then,  a  party  of 
gentlemen  out  to  see  the  sport,  or  a  policeman's  barge, 
glided  quietly  onward. 

The  "  Solomon  Rodgers  "  stood  a  little  apart  from  its 
neighboring  houses,  and  though  surrounded  by  water,  was 
still  habitable.  Doppy,  however,  had  accepted  an  invita- 


294  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

tion  to  spend  the  night  at  Fir  Covert ;  and  Joe,  after  a 
cruel  beating  with  a  rope's-end  three  days  before,  had 
disappeared,  no  one  knew  where. 

It  was  well  on  to  twelve  o'clock,  but  the  two  old  men 
still  sat  drinking  in  the  dirty  bar-room ;  less  apparently 
from  enjoyment  than  lack  of  other  occupation.  The 
dampness  had  soaked  into  the  walls  and  air ;  the  fire 
smouldered  in  the  stove  ;  the  smoky  lamp  on  the  counter 
faintly  discovered  the  sticky  bottles  and  glasses,  left  from 
the  evening  trade.  Conversation  flagged.  Previously 
drunk  on  whiskey,  the  pair  had  been  sobering  themselves 
with  lager,  when  Doppy's  parent  broke  out : 

"  I'm  an  old  man,  Haverty,  an'  near  the  end.  What 
do  you  suppose  will  become  of  us  when  we  die  ?  " 

"  Whisth  mon,"  said  Joe's  progenitor,  taking  a  long 
swig,  and  smacking  his  gray  bushed  lips  thereafter. 
"  It's  bad  luck  to  'mintion  the  thing." 

"  But  I'm  in  airnest,"  persisted  Mulligan,  solemnly — 
he  was  a  little  farther  gone  than  his  companion.  "  It's  a 
grraave  question." 

Thus  pressed,  Haverty  said  the  "  universal  doctrine  " 
was  good  enough  for  him. 

"  No,  no  !  "  rejoined  his  friend  with  fervor.  "Be  you 
willin'  to  go  to  heaven  with  Knox  an'  Brady,  two  d — n 
scoundrels  ?  I  ain't." 

"  I'm  willin'  to  take  another  pot  o'  beer,"  said  Haverty, 
waiving  the  subject. 

"  It's  down  on  the  stairs,"  responded  Mulligan,  rising. 
"  Come  an'  hold  the  light ;  we  may's  well  make  a  night 
on't." 

The  cellar  was  full  of  water,  that  ran  in  through  its 
open  door,  and  all  sorts  of  rotting  debris  had  collected 
there.  The  steps  leading  down  were  wet  and  slippery, 
and  the  rays  of  Haverty's  lamp  feebly  lit  up  the  slimy 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  295 

Avail,  and  the  horrible,  noisome  water  beneath  ;  and  you 
could  hear  the  melancholy  swish-swish  of  the  waves 
against  the  building.  "  Come,  hurry,"  said  the  man, 
yielding,  in  spite  of  his  brutish  obtuseness  to  impressions, 
to  a  compelling  terror.  "  This  hole  is  just  right  for 
murders.  Look  at  those  wandering  glimmers  a-top  the 
current,  and  the  black  shapes  floating  like  devils  beyant. 
Hurry  out  o'  here." 

"  Then  take  a  holt,"  said  Mulligan,  below,  selecting  a 
cask  from  the  half-dozen  propped  upon  the  stairs.  "  It's 
heavy  enough  to  drag  you  to  hell." 

There  be  people  who  find  prophecy  and  meaning  in  the 
utterances  of  the  dying.  Let  such  take  note  of  these, 
for  they  were  the  last  old  Mulligan  ever  made.  At  that 
moment  a  gust  of  wind  closed  the  door  above,  extin 
guishing  the  light,  and  his  startled  companion  missed  his 
footing,  fell  helplessly,  striking  first  the  wall,  and  then 
the  man  cumbered  with  his  biirden ;  and  both  were  pre 
cipitated  into  the  flood. 

A.  fortnight  after,  their  blackened  corpses  were  fished  up 
from  the  cellar,  as  the  flood  subsided,  and  there  being 
nothing  left  to  bury  them,  Doppy's  friends  made  up  a 
subscription  from  their  'prentice  earnings,  and  saw  them 
decently  interred  with  the  unshriven  in  the  corner 
Father  O'Gorruan  allowed  such  at  the  cemetery, — and 
they  had  as  fine  a  coverlid  of  thistles,  in  time,  as  the  pious 
occupants  of  the  Protestant  establishment  near  by. 

Amos  comforted  Doppy,  saw  to  the  funeral,  and  then 
hurried  off  to  take  counsel  with  Mollie.  "  It  ain't  no 
place  to  leave  her  in  at  the  '  Rodgers '  alone,"  said  he,  after 
detailing  the  situation  ;  "  and  she  won't  go  back  on  Joe, 
bad  cess  to  her,  and  Joe's  doin'  dreadful,  and  that  makes 
it  worse  agin ;  an',  Miss  McCross,  I  thought — "  said  he, 


296  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

in  some  embarrassment,  "  that  is,  I  knew  you  wouldn't 
mind — "  The  anxiety  he  felt  for  success  in  his  suit  knotted 
up  every  muscle  in  his  body. 

"  "Well,"  said  Mollie,  encouragingly,  as  he  clenched  his 
large  hands  and  turned  his  elbows  inside  out,  and  opened 
his  mouth  in  gasps,  "  what  would  you  advise  me  to  do  ? 
I  would  be  thankful  to  know  your  opinion.  I  want  to 
provide  for  Doppy." 

All  Amos'  contracted  muscles  relaxed,  and  his  fine 
Irish  gray  eyes  grew  blue  and  alight  with  grateful  feeling, 
as-he  straightened  his  tall  form  and  answered,  every  whit 
manly : 

"  What  I  wish  to  say  is,  that  I  know  of  a  respectable 
young  couple  as  would  move  in  and  make  it  a  dacent 
place,  where  Doppy  could  keep  her  old  room,  as  she's  set 
on ;  and  would  you  speak  to  Mr.  McCross  to  make  the 
rint  aisy  for  'em,  so  they  can  afford  it  ?  " 

The  young  lady's  pale,  weary  face  (it  had  grown  sadly 
weary  in  the  last  few  months)  now  brightened  with 
pleasure.  Amos'  thoughtful  care  of  his  friend  was  a 
strength  to  her,  who  was  forced  everywhere  to  review  the 
crooked,  desolate,  loathsome  phases  of  life.  "  The  4  Solo 
mon  Rodgers '  is  mine  !  "  she  cried,  joyfully,  "  and  the  peo 
ple  can  move  in  as  soon  as  they  like,  and  Joe  shall  have 
her  garret  as  long  as  she  needs  it." 

So  Amos' new  tenants,  just  six  weeks  married,  took 
possession,  and  painted,  and  papered,  and  dressed  the  old- 
fashioned  terraces  with  flowers,  and  hung  the  wains 
coted,  time-blackened  bar-room  with  knick-knacks,  making 
a  sweet,  pure  home  there.  And  Dorothea's  "  chances  " 
widened  and  multiplied. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  297 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

"  The  north  wind  doth  blow, 
And  we  shall  have  snow ; 
What'll  the  robin  do  then  ? 

Poor  thing  ! 
He'll  sit  in  the  barn, 
And  keep  himself  warm, 
And  hide  his  head  under  his  wing, 
Poor  thing." 

jFTER  all,  winter  could  not  forbear  a  final  kick 
at  Millville,  and  took  advantage  of  the  genei'al 
wetness  left  by  the  freshet  to  bring  on  a  parting 
storm.  But  this  early  May  day  the  sun  glanced  mildly 
through  the  snow-laden  firs  that  protected  the  Covert, 
and  melted  their  white  counterpane  off  the  edge  of  the 
flower-beds  in  a  quiet,  determined  way,  that  failed  for 
once  to  rouse  the  pugnacious  east  wind. 

Peace  Pelican,  equipped  in  high  button-boots  and  er 
mines,  hastily  swung  open  the  gate,  and,  without  knock 
ing,  ran  up  to  Mollie's  room.  She  didn't  find  any  one 
there,  and  so,  leisurely  pulled  off  her  gloves  and  scarlet- 
plumed  hat,  laid  them  on  the  bed,  unfastened  her  woolly 
jacket,  drew  an  arm-chair  near  the  cosey  grate,  took  up  the 
"  Romance  of  a  Mummy  "  lying  open  on  the  table,  and 
settled  herself  to  await  her  friend's  coming. 

This  bed- room  always  seemed  to  me  the  ideal  of  a  young 
lady's  sanctum.  Every  detail  partook  of  the  individuality 
of  its  mistress.  The  parlors  of  a  house  must,  perhaps, 
be  sacrificed  to  family  usage  and  French  fashion.  The 
once  wide,  hospitable  hall,  lined  with  settees  and  open- 
throated  chimneys,  hung  with  antlers,  furs,  and  fowliug- 
13* 


298  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

pieces,  has  assumed  snaky  proportions,  and  crawls  dis 
mally  through  the  house,  deserted  to  hat-racks  and  foot 
men's  chairs.  The  dining-room  has  fallen  into  the 
clutches  of  servants  and  cut-glass  decanters.  But  the 
bed-room  is  the  young  lady's  own.  No  alien  hand  should 
dust  its  hundred  knick-knacks,  the  invaluable  accumula 
tion  of  years  of  friendship ;  no  flippant  Abigail  pry  into 
its  old-fashioned  albums  and  rose-scented  boxes.  The 
dozen  favorite  volumes  on  the  shelf, — Thomas  a  Kempis 
or  Colenso  in  the  midst, — books  gathered  with  great  self- 
denial  and  little  pocket-money,  how  exactly  they  repre 
sent  your  intellectual  life ! 

On  the  bureau  stands  the  cut-glass  vase,  filled  with  the 
one  nicety  of  perfume  your  maidenly  fancy  prompts  you 
to  set  breathing  from  the  folds  of  your  garments,  and 
saluting  the  reader  of  your  tinted  billet-doux. 

On  the  table  is  your  orderly  work-basket,  furnished 
•with  the  pretty  things  mamma  used  when  a  girl.  A  few 
pictures  hang  on  the  walls :  some  choice,  some  old-fash 
ioned  and  faded, — grandmother's  handiwork,  perhaps  ; 
hunting-scenes,  where  plethoric  squires  in  pinks  pursue 
long  foxes,  and  bestride  Suffolk  Punches,  neatly  finished 
with  arched  eyebrows  and  eyelashes. 

The  portfolio  papa  brought  from  Europe,  the  brackets 
Cousin  Dick  carved  when  laid  up  with  a  sprain,  the  curi 
ous  pebbles  somebody  picked  up  for  you  on  the  moun 
tain  the  day  you  set  the  lunch-table,  and  he  made  so 
many  jokes  you  left  the  spoons  behind,  and  had  to  go 
back  for  them,  and  got  wet  in  the  shower ;  the  walking- 
stick  some  one  else  carved  with  your  name ;  the  pin-cush 
ions,  mats,  tidies,  watch  pockets,  and  bits  of  water-color, 
coming  in  Christmas  after  Christmas,  have  each  a  place  in 
this  dear  little  sanctuary ;  and  so,  in  time,  it  comes  to 
pass  that  every  familiar  article  has  its  own  story  written 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  299 

all  over  it,  and  speaking  lovingly  to  your  memory,  when 
ever  your  eyes  fall  thereon. 

I  never  feel  really  acquainted  with  a  woman  till  I  have 
peeped  into  her  bed-room.  Says  a  certain  man,  who  in 
his  day,  possessed  a  great  reputation  for  wisdom  :  "  Tell 
me  with  whom  thou  keepest  company,  and  I  will  tell  thee 
what  thou  art."  But  I  have  as  good  a  dictum,  "  Let  me 
glance  into  your  sanctum,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  you 
have  been  about  all  your  life." 

Mr.  Haythorne,  who  dealt  much  in  mystic  lore,  used 
to  say  that  every  room  possessed  an  atmosphere,  a  spiritual 
influence,  of  its  own.  "  For  example,"  here  he  stroked 
his  curling  beard  and  glanced  wickedly  at  Peace,  "  though 
I  have  never  been  in  Miss  Pelican's  boudoir,  I  feel  sure 
it  is  pervaded  by  a  genius  of  uneasiness,  a  sense  of  things 
turned  upside-down  and  inside-out ;  in  short,  a  keen  s\ig- 
gestiveness  of  the  instability  of  human  affairs." 

"  Hum,"  retorted  Peace,  pretending  to  finger  thought 
fully  her  fluted  apron,  "  I  have  been  in  your  apartment ; 
I  found  no  manifest  presence  there  except  smoke." 

Mollie's  room  was  full  of  quiet  restfulness,  gentle  re 
pose.  It  was  a  place  where  one  instinctively  practised 
the  amenities  of  social  life,  thought  pleasant  thoughts, 
felt  kindly  toward  one's  enemies,  and  arose  strengthened 
for  the  battles  of  life  It  had  a  certain  dignity,  too,  like 
Mollie's  self,  and  rebellious  spirits  experienced  a  strong 
element  of  discord  when  they  entered  charged  with  a  con 
trary  animus. 

Its  furniture  possessed  so  many  histories  that  Peace  once 
told  its  mistress  she  believed  she  had  gotten  everything 
in  it  out  of  her  friends. 

On  the  wall,  in  a  dainty  frame  of  Louis'  workmanship, 
hung  the  butterflies  the  two  had  snared  and  studied  to 
gether.  There  had  been  a  pair  of  cases,  but  the  other  was 


300  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

gone,  and  its  place  filled  by  a  little  crayon  sketch  of  the 
first  Christmas  Eve,  with  the  initials  "  L.  A."  faintly 
traced  in  the  corner. 

The  half  dozen  volumes  satisfying  most  young  girls  ex 
panded  into  a  well-chosen  library,  with  a  whole  shelf  of 
controversial  and  meditative  religious  works,  and  sundry 
leather-bound  scrap-books,  labelled  "  Egmont,"  "  Hints 
about  the  Aryan  Race,"  "Genera  and  Local  Species  of 
the  Bombycidse,"  "  Herbarium  of  Local  Ferns,"  and  a 
complete  translation  of  "  Count  Monte  Christo,"  some 
times  in  Louis'  b  and wri ting,  sometimes  Mollie's.  All 
the  books  were  full  of  Louis.  There  were  the  German 
Fairy  Tales  he  delighted  in ;  the  Merivale,  and  Froude, 
and  Lamartine  they  had  conscientiously  "  done  "  together, 
— the  old  poetry  they  had  enjoyed — he  always  went  for 
a  glass  of  water  just  before  they  reached  the  unpleasant 
part,  and  so  passed  them  by.  Beside  these,  there  stood 
"  John  Halifax,"  that  sweetest  of  life  stories ;  and  another 
tale  or  two  of  kindred  worth  :  "  Hypatia,"  "  Barbara's 
History,"  "  Mary  Barton,"  "  Adam  Bede,"  and  certain 
romances  by  a  pleasant-tongued  baroness  of  difficult  name, 
who  makes  Munich,  Tyrol,  and  Innspruck  history  the 
delightful  property  of  such  few  Americans  as  nowadays 
stay  at  home. 

Mollie  was  no  "  amateur  "  musician,  but  she  could  sing 
a  simple  ballad  in  a  clear  voice,  and  her  dainty  inlaid 
guitar  (Louis  had  taught  her  to  play  it)  stood  in  one  corner 
of  the  room  ;  an  aquarium  and  fernery  rivalled  each  other 
in  the  deep  window-seat ;  while  on  either  side  the  casement 
hung  the  cages  of  Poppy  and  a  little  Java  sparrow  Louis 
had  brought  Mollie  one  day,  because,  he  said,  it  made 
him  think  of  her;  its  coat  was  so  modest,  and  its  bill  as 
red  as  her  lips. 

Peace  sat  some  time  refreshing  her  stately  self  before 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  301 

she  became  conscious  that  her  hostess  had  entered  the 
room.  In  fact  she  did  not  find  it  out  at  all,  until  she 
heard  a  little  cry,  more  a  gasp  than  an  articulate  sound, 
from  the  sewing  chair  over  by  the  garden  window.  She 
turned  around  enough  to  see  her  friend,  white  as  the 
snow,  with  an  open  letter  in  her  hand,  and  then  wisely 
looked  back  to  the  fire,  and  said  nothing.  Half  an  hour 
passed — an  hour — two  hours — Mollie  so  intently  think 
ing,  that  she  did  not  hear  the  rustle  of  the  leaves  regu 
larly  turned  by  the  reader  in  the  arm-chair. 

By  and  by  she  rose  from  her  seat,  put  the  epistle  away 
among  her  papers  quietly,  and  with  care — Mollie  never 
did  untidy  things ;  then  seeing  Peace  for  the  first  time, 
greeted  her  lovingly,  and  proceeded  to  make  her  welcome. 
If  her  cheeks  were  pale,  and  her  eyes  weary  with  secret 
tears,  it  was  nothing  new  ;  whatever  fresh  trouble  had 
befallen  her,  found  no  expression  in  word  or  manner. 
She  drew  towards  her  the  basket  wherein  she  kept  the 
Patience  of  Hope  sewing  work,  lit  one  of  the  wax  can 
dles  held  by  the  bronze  griffins  on  the  mantel-piece, 
selected  Maggie  O'Hara's  dress,  and  began  to  rip  out  and 
hern  down  and  baste  together  as  if  it  was  the  only  impor 
tant  thing  to  be  done.  She  was  right ;  for  every  ac 
customed  anxiety  has  a  certain  thick  atmosphere  of  its 
own,  wherein  all  flame  grows  dim,  no  matter  if  the  torch 
be  fed  with  suffering  or  joy. 

Conversation  proceeded  as  usual  between  these  friends. 
Peace  usually  talked,  and  Mollie  listened ;  or  else  they 
argued  like  athletes,  for  pleasure  of  trying  their  strength  : 
they  were  too  good  lovers  to  desire  to  convert  each  other. 
Peace,  though  often  unhappy  in  these  days,  was  always 
witty ;  but  this  afternoon  her  glee  was  genuine.  Mrs. 
Pelican,  whose  comfort  with  Louis  had  been  too  great  to 
forego  willingly,  had  not  long  since  given  his  place  to 


302  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Francis  Haythorne,  and  her  daughter  made  it  her  chief 
good  to  torment  him.  That  very  morning  he  had  been 
confronted  with  a  curl  of  his  own  auburn  hair,  and  his 
modest  daintiness  was  annoyed  beyond  expression,  the 
more  that  he  couldn't  tell  how  she  came  by  it. 

"  Here  it  is,"  quoth  the  young  lady,  drawing  a  fiery 
ringlet,  neatly  tied  with  a  bhie  ribbon,  from  her  port- 
monnaie, lt  I  have  saved  every  hair  I  found  on  his  coat 
for  six  months,  and  he  thinks  I  must  have  cut  it  from  his 
head  behind,  Avhere  he  can't  see  it.  I  nearly  died  to 
watch  him  feel  secretly  for  the  place.  I  told  him,  if  he 
hadn't  left  the  '  Rape  of  the  Lock  '  in  the  parlor,  I  should 
never  have  thought  of  it. 

"  He  said  I  had  taken  an  ungenerous  ad  vantage  of  him, 
and  wished,  with  Burns,  people  had  gift  to  see  themselves 
as  others  saw  them.  Then,  to  calm  him,  I  repeated  a 
little  story  I  heard  of  him  the  other  day.  I  said,  '  Frankie, 
sweet,  do  you  remember  the  prayer-meeting  you  led  when 
an  infant  ?  '  and  seeing  by  his  disgusted  look  he  did,  I 
went  on  in  a  soothing  voice,  '  And  how,  when  all  the 
good  little  boys  were  on  their  knees  praying  that  the  last- 
comer  might  have  a  new  heart,  and  he  laughed,  you  got 
mad  and  jumped  up,  and  said,  "  Pitch  him  out  of  the 
window  ?  You  were  a  darling  innocent,  but  you  should 
keep  your  little  tempers  better,  Frankie ; '  "  and  this  made 
him  so  indignant  that  he  ran  out  of  the  room  and  banged 
the  door." 

Mollie  could  not  forbear  a  smile  at  the  maliciously 
beautiful  face  gleaming  at  her  from  the  arm-chair,  even 
if  Francis  Haythorne's  flaunted  metaphysics,  and  ex 
treme  fastidiousness  in  personals,  had  not  rendered  story 
and  prank  alike  ridiculous. 

"  I  make  it  my  business  to  spread  a  Procustes'  couch 
for  him,  I  assure  you,"  continued  Miss  Pelican.  "  I  am 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  303 

going  to  present  the  curl  to  you  ;  I  want  to  tell  him  that 
you  have  it  in  your  Bible,  the  place  where  you  keep  your 
chief  treasures.  That  will  tease  him  more  than,  anything 
else.  1  shall  say  I  saw  it  put  there  myself." 

Mollie  did  not  answer  ;  she  was  gazing  sadly  off  at  some 
far-away  thought  or  memory,  and  Peace,  unforbidden,  got 
down  the  large  brown  volume,  much  tattered  from  con 
stant  use,  and  carefully  hid  the  stiff  but  perfumed  ringlet 
among  its  leaves.  She  turned  the  pages  a  little  to  see 
the  book-marks  and  pressed  daisies  that  crowded  the 
ancient  mansoleum,  and  then  laid  it  away  with  a  satisfied 
sigh.  "  Come,"  said  she,  "  the  supper  bell  rang  a  long 
time  ago." 

Deacon  McCross  went  softly  and  prayed  long  as  usual, 
and  his  lady  was  not  less  tediously  aggravating.  She  asked 
Peace  if  she  had  missed  anything  during  Mr.  All  wood's 
sojourn  at  her  father's  ;  said  she  had  lost  two  forks  and  a 
teaspoon,  and  for  her  part  preferred  silver  that  she  had 
bought  and  paid  for  with  her  own  money,  to  the  same 
come  back  in  poll  parrots  and  what  not :  from  whence 
we  may  rightly  conclude  that  Poppy  still  flourished.  Noth 
ing  but  the  look  of  acute  torture  on  Mollie's  face  could 
have  restrained  Peace,  who  could  despise  a  man  in  pros 
perous  folly,  for  whom  she  would  venture  her  life  in  im 
pulsive  championship  five  minutes  after  fate  bowled  him 
down.  She  instantly  announced  her  intention  of  calling 
011  the  convict,  as  it  was,  and  snippily  asked  if  she  could 
not  bear  him  some  message.  Whereupon  Mrs.  McCross 
solemnly  warned  her  to  beware  of  evil  companionship, 
and  added  that  she  had  always  regretted  taking  her  hus 
band's  ward  into  the  house,  though  she  supposed  it  was 
charity — she  thought  he  had  tried  to  poison  Mollie's 
mind.  But  even  to  this,  her  daughter  said  not  one 
word. 


304  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Peace  wondered  how  she  could  sit  so  marble-like  and 
bear  it — was  almost  ready  to  blame  her  as  cold-hearted, 
when  she  herself  thrilled  in  every  nerve  to  her  very  fin 
ger  tips  with  sympathetic  pain.  But  she  failed  to  con 
sider  that  a  life's  training  in  such  a  school  will  teach 
calmness  to  the  most  ungoverned.  Only  once  Mollie's 
heart  got  the  better. 

"  Did  I  ever  tell  you  about  the  raspberries  ?  "  said 
Mrs.  McCross,  looking  over  at  Peace,  who  said  ((  no," 
rather  unwillingly. 

"  It  was  when  he  first  came  here,"  began  she,  rising, 
partly  to  cut  the  bread  on  the  trencher,  partly  for  greater 
freedom  of  gesticulation ;  "  and  I  don't  suppose  the  child 
knew  much  better.  I  spent  all  my  time  while  he  was 
under  my  care,  trying  to  teach  him  manners.  Mollie 
was  so  fond  of  raspberries,  and  one  day  she  came  running 
up  to  me,  and  said  she  was  going  to  pick  herself  some  for 
supper.  She  wa'n't  bigger  than  a  pint  of  cider,  and  she 
scratched  her  tender  little  arms,  and  burnt  her  face,  but 
sure  enough  at  tea-time  she  had  her  saucer  heaping. 
What  do  you  suppose  the  critter  does  but  lick  the  whole 
of  'em  up  ;  never  so  much  as  said  by  your  leave,  ma'am  ; 
and  Mollie,  poor  child,  sat  looking  on  with  her  red  lips 
puckered  ready  to  cry,  and  didn't  dare  say  a  word." 

There  can  scarcely  be  anything  more  painful  to  a  gen 
erous  mind,  than  to  hear  one's  self  unjustly  described  as 
the  victim  of  our  loved. 

Mrs.  McCross  had  miscalculated  her  daughter's  en 
durance.  Mollie  lifted  her  eyes  from  the  tea-cup,  in  which 
she  had  been  watching  the  floating  cream,  with  every 
muscle  conti-acted.  "  It  is  equally  to  your  credit  to  re 
member  and  to  tell  of  it,"  darted  she,  in  those  clear 
white  tones  that  belong  to  the  intensest  anger. 

Thereat  Mrs.  McCross  lost  not  a  moment  in  bursting 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  305 

into  tears,  and  refused  to  be  comforted.  She  wasn't 
loved — wasn't  even  allowed  to  tell  a  harmless  anecdote 
at  her  own  table.  She  had  better  not  live  any  longer. 
Her  health  was  poor;  she  would  soon  be  gone,  and  then 
she  hoped  they'd  forgive  a  poor  old  woman,  in  that  she 
liked  a  good  story,  and  perhaps  told  it  too  often. 

The  Deacon,  who  had  been  eating  potatoes  with  his 
knife,  in  an  absently  uncomfortable  silence,  the  whole 
meal-time,  now  pushed  back  his  chair,  and  hastily  buried 
himself  in  the  "  Millville  Universe." 

Peace  followed  Mollie  to  the  library,  where  she  had 
hidden  herself  behind  the  dun  curtains,  and  stood  with 
heaving  breast — for  the  moment  beside  herself;  but  she 
came  out  as  her  friend  entered,  her  calmness  regained  by 
mighty  effort. 

Acceding  to  Peace's  pacific  request  for  cribbage,  she 
brought  candles,  table,  and  the  board — delicately  painted 
by  Louis — and  sat  down  to  play. 

"  Mother,"  said  she,  presently,  <(  I  was  rude  to  you ;  I 
beg  your  pardon." 

The  weeping  figure  in  the  corner  heaved  a  deep  sigh. 
"  You  needn't  say  anything,  my  daughter,"  said  she,  in  a 
plaintive  little  voice.  "  It's  rather  hard,  I  know ;  but 
only  the  treatment  an  old,  sick  woman  must  expect. 
Don't  trouble  yourself  about  it.  I'll  forget  it  by  and 

by." 

What  was  there  to  do,  but  beg  her  forgiveness  over 
and  over  again,  and  kiss  away  her  tears  ?  In  time 
patient  quietude  was  restored,  and  the  game  begun.  The 
Deacon  laid  down  his  paper,  and  eyed  the  players  long 
ingly,  but  dared  not  offer  to  join. 

"  Tantsene  animis  ccelestibus  irse  ?  "  Mrs.  McCross  was 
now  a  champion  of  morality.  She  sat  back  in  her  rock 
ing-chair,  and,  consumed  with  pious  horror,  fired  off  pas- 


306  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

sages  of  Holy  Writ  at  the  players,  both  pertinent  and 
pointed. 

"It  is  sport  for  a  fool  to  do  mischief;  "  "As  a  jewel  of 
gold  in  a  swine's  snout,  so  is  a  fair  woman  without 
discretion." 

"  Pooh !  I  know  the  original  Greek,"  said  Peace,  re 
solved  to  keep  sunny  :  "  Inmudeelsis ;  inpinepitchis  ; 
inclaynoneis." 

"  You  would  do  well  to  bear  in  mind  the  translation," 
retorted  Mrs.  McCross,  in  a  solemn  voice.  "  And  whoever 
adds  anything  to  this  book,  unto  him  shall  be  added  all 
the  plagues  that  are  wi'itten  in  this  book." 

"  Exactly !  "  Peace  rose  as  she  spoke,  and  brushed 
the  cards  together  on  the  table.  "  I'm  going  up-stairs. 
Good-night,  Deacon  McCross  ;  I  wish  you  a  deep  sleep." 

The  young  girls  had  reached  the  upper  hall,  when 
Mollie  paused  to  adjust  the  candle  in  its  socket.  "  I 
knew  your  penchant  for  '  room  enough  to  swing  a  cat  in,' " 
said  she  smiling ;  "  so  I  have  had  the  green  chamber 
warmed.  I  am  sorry  Tabby  reposes  under  her  bed  of 
catnip  ;  but  a  few  friends  still  keen  for  her  at  the  favorite 
spot ;  you  can  lie  in  wait  for  one,,  if  you're  particular." 
She  was  still  merry,  and  laughing  with  resolved  cheerful 
ness,  firm  as  fate,  when  she  bade  her  friend  a  soft  happy 
dreams,  and  entered  her  own  room. 

Miss  Pelican  lay  awake  a  long  time,  chafing  over  her 
doubles'  hardships,  and,  looking  through  her  open  door 
(fear  of  being  burned  in  her  bed  was  her  hobby),  knew 
by  the  shining  crack  of  light  opposite  that  Mollie  had 
not  gone  to  rest.  She  thought  her  ear  caught  a  noise  at 
intervals,  as  if  some  one  was  talking  rapidly  in  a  low 
voice,  and  dozing  off,  heard  the  clock  strike  two,  and 
came  to  herself  enough  to  notice  again  the  same  rapid 
speech,  a  little  louder,  sharper,  and  more  eager,  now, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  307 

than  before.  Too  nervous  to  lie  still,  she  threw  a  shawl 
over  her  shoulders,  and  entered  the  familiar  room.  It's 
mistress  sat  quietly  by  her  bed — her  hat  and  cloak  on, 
reading  the  afternoon's  letter.  "  I'm  married,"  said  she 
with  a  meaningless  laugh.  "  Here  are  the  certificates; 
you'd  better  take  them,  to  keep  father  from  feeling  bad." 

"  Mollie !  What  have  you  done  ?  what  do  you  mean  ?  " 
cried  Peace. 

"  My  name  isn't  Mollie,"  said  the  girl ;  "  corpses  don't 
have  names.  They  say  the  body  of  Mr.  So-and-so.  I'm 
a  corpse ;  just  stand  me  up  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  and 
see  what  a  nice-looking  one  I'll  make.  When  they  corne 
to  the  funeral  to-morrow,  have  me  stood  up  ;  I  don't 
think  I  should  look  so  well  laid  out.  And  be  sure  you 
hide  all  mother's  handkerchiefs  but  one.  If  you  don't, 
she'll  cry  too  much,  and  have  no  time  for  instructive  sen 
timent.  I  think  a  great  deal  of  correct  sentiment,  ap 
plied  on  a  plaster.  Mother  always  makes  moral  reflections 
at  funerals,  and  eats  too  much  at  weddings.  She  always 
goes  munch !  munch !  munch !  She's  eaten  up  Louis' 
dinner;  but  I  don't  care,  for  by  and  by  he'll  be  a  corpse 
and  stand  up  in  the  corner  like  me,  and  then  it  won't 
make  any  difference.  O,  mother's  crying!  tears,  idle 
tears,  crocodile  tears. 

"  '  How  doth  the  little  crocodile  improve  his  shining  tail, 

And  pour  the  waters  of  the  Nile  o'er  every  golden  scale  ! '  " 

Now  give  me  two  nuts  for  infant  piety,  or  you're  scaley." 
Mrs.  McCross,  attracted  by  Peace's  call  of  alarm,  was 
now  fainting  correctly  on  a  chair,  and  her  husband  dis 
tractedly  applied  an  asafcetida  pill  to  her  nose,  but  with 
out  result. 

"  Pooh  !  "  said  the  girl  with  a  scornful  laugh ;  "  she 
isn't  going  to  revive,  not  she  !  She's  up  here  to  eat  me, 


308  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

because  I'm  a  corpse.     She  gnaws  father  and  me  every 
day  ;    it  makes  his  hair  fall  out." 

And,  then  came  Peace  with  Dr.  Jenkens,  who  nodded 
grimly,  and  talked  of  "  long  confinement,  overtaxed 
nerves,  brain-fever,  insanity." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

"  Ding-dong  bell, 
Pussy's  in  the  well." 

DHEN"  Louis  first  went  into  that  stony  benevolent 
institution,  provided  by  Christian  charity  to 
the  cure  of  diseased  souls,  he  felt  only  two 
things, — the  injustice  of  his  sentence,  and  the  loss  of 
his  good  name.  He  was  so  swallowed  up  in  these,  that 
it  was  only  by  slow  degrees  he  awoke  to  the  present 
miseries  of  his  situation.  He  kept  saying  over  and  over 
to  himself,  "  I  have  a  claim  to  my  liberty.  I  am  no 
thief;  I  am  an  honest  man.  They  have  no  right  to  im 
prison  me."  But,  as  the  warden  observed  when  he 
entered,  "  Look  a  here  :  you  say  you're  innocent ;  mebbe 
you  be.  They're  all  innocent  in  there."  Then  this  phil 
anthropist  went  on  thus  :  "  See  that  door  ?  you're  goin' 
in  there  now,  and  I  tell  you  what,  you'd  better  mind 
yourself.  If  you  do  as  you're  told,  you'll  get  along.  If 
you  don't,  we'll  kill  you.  God  Himself  can't  help  that." 
After  this  he  spat  on  the  floor,  flourished  his  cane,  and 
the  audience  was  ended.  Being  a  sensitive,  high-strung 
gentleman,  Louis  never  forgot  his  salutatory,  but  added  it 
to  a  fast  increasing  tale  of  realities  that  separated  him 
from  Mary. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  309 

"  Mary,"  was  the  first  and  last  thought  haunting  him. 
What  would  become  of  her  ?  Would  she  pine  for  him  ? 
He  hoped  she  would,  but  soon  felt  that  this  could  not  be. 
Mollie  grieving  over  a  thief?  Impossible  !  His  name 
was  forever  branded  with  the  stain.  Didn't  Mrs. 
McCross  insist  him  to  be  one  ?  Wasn't  she  a  pious 
•woman  ?  Didn't  she  have  a  voice  in  choosing  the  minis 
ter  ?  Wasn't  she  strong  on  the  doctrines,  and  the  higher 
life  ?  What  was  his — Louis  All  wood's — rush- light, 
beside  the  brilliance  of  this  wax-candle  of  the  Lord  ? 
What  if  Mollie  was  faithful;  he  knew  her  true  as  truth. 
Wouldn't  it  be  her  duty  to  forget  him  ?  Mollie  always 
tried  to  do  her  duty.  That  was  something  else  to  put 
down  to  the  credit  of  religion.  Having  robbed  him  of 
his  good  name,  it  took  his  love  also.  He  felt  thankful 
he  had  always  kept  out  of  it. 

After  this  came  a  reaction.  Mollie  was  right.  Wouldn't 
he  do  the  same  in  her  place  ?  He  pictured  to  himself  a 
woman,  false,  vicious,  drunken,  and  strove  to  invest  her 
with  his  love's  image,  and  loathed  the  hideous  thing  he 
fancied.  "  That's  her  feeling  toward  me,"  he  said. 

Now  for  her  sake  whom  he  loved,  he  analyzed  his 
emotions  toward  the  wretched  creatures  about  him.  His 
whole  nature  shrank  from  them.  He  abhorred  their  sly, 
sensual  faces  ;  observed  with  fear  their  animal,  malformed 
jaws,  bleared  eyes,  slouched  forms,  and  told  himself, 
"  I'm  one  of  them." 

In  due  time  he  would  have  lost  all  shame,  and  learned 
to  look  with  brazen  face  at  the  world ;  but  one  thing 
saved  him,  and  that  kept  alive  his  misery — his  love  never 
died,  though  his  self-respect  fell  away  like  shrivelled 
leaves  from  trees  at  autumn.  For  Mollie's  sake,  all  the 
world  stung  him  looking  through  her  eyes.  He  hated 
mankind ;  but  every  stranger  who  came  to  view  what, 


310  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

\ 

in  the  bitterness  of  his  heart,  he  called  the  human  men 
agerie,  caused  him  fresh  torture.  He  never  glanced  up ; 
no  need.  He  felt  their  cruel  eyes  blasting  his  soul. 
"Some  day  Mary  will  look  on  me  with  just  such 
thoughts,"  was  the  ever  present  feeling. 

Such  brooding  soon  suggested  an  idea  which  he  hesi 
tated  long  ere  putting  in  execution.  His  mind  was  made 
up  that  his  life  was  ruined,  and  he  was  not  hasty  in  this 
judgment.  His  friends  had  all  deserted  him.  Not  one 
message  had  cheered  his  loneliness.  The  Pelicans  he  had 
served  so  faithfully,  the  frequenters  of  the  sample-room 
his  gentlemanly  ways  had  rendered  so  popular,  the  Mill- 
ville  acquaintances — none  came  near  him.  "  Mollie,"  he 
continually  said  to  himself,  "  must  be  either  wishing  and 
afraid  to  ask  a  release,  or  else  had  begun  to  share  misfor 
tunes  to  which  he  saw  no  end.  He  knew  the  Deacon 
and  his  wife  well — didn't  need  to  speculate  about  the  poor 
girl's  sufferings.  If  the  one  belief  caused  pain,  the  other 
awakened  all  the  tender  unselfishness  that  is  the  very 
essential  of  love.  He  resolved  to  set  her  free.  Then  for 
many  noontimes  and  bits  of  evenings  he  sat  down  to  the 
sad  task  of  cutting  away  the  only  interests  misfortune 
had  not  stripped  from  him,  to  arise  again  with  the  labor 
unperformed.  Sometimes  misery  ate  up  the  cords  of  his 
will,  and  he  fell  back  into  intense  craving  for  her  affec 
tion.  Then,  stung  by  thought  of  the  sorrows  in  store  for 
whoever  shared  his  fate,  and  shame  for  his  own  coward 
ice  that  would  sacrifice  her  for  his  comfort,  he  tried  to 
write  what  would  end  all,  and  make  him  homeless  and 
alone  foi'ever. 

Nerved  to  do  this,  new  difficulties  appeared.  How 
could  he  induce  Mollie  to  grant  his  request  ?  Would  not 
her  love  hold  her  to  him  ?  or  if  not  her  love,  at  least 
her  sympathy  ?  His  very  troubles  would  only  make  her 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  311 

the  more  his.  His  heart  told  him  so.  For  a  whole 
month  he  took  refuge  in,  gloated  over,  the  idea.  She 
would  not  let  him  go ;  he  had  no  right  to  ask  it ;  it  did 
not  lie  with  him.  He  need  not  tear  out  his  one  life 
hope. 

But  conscience  soon  arose  and  shattered  the  delusion. 
Was  he  not  charged  with  the  care  of  the  gentle  girl  who 
had  confided  herself  to  him  ?  Was  he  not  to  cherish  and 
protect?  Should  he  permit  her  to  sacrifice  herself? 
Small  love  in  that.  No,  he  must  accomplish  the  separa 
tion,  force  her  to  it.  If  she  suffered  it  would  only  be  to 
save  from  greater  suifering. 

So  one  day,  his  heart  full  of  love  and  agony,  he  penned 
the  letter,  weighing  every  sentence  that  the  pain  might 
be  the  least  possible,  and  yet  the  words  of  due  effect. 
Since  this  one  did  not  please,  the  next  noon  he  wrote 
another,  and  then  another,  till  he  presently  saw  that  he 
took  comfort  in  thus  putting  off  the  dreadful  day,  and 
so  finished  the  last  in  bitterness  and  haste,  much  more 
cold  than  the  former  ones,  and,  not  trusting  himself  to 
read  it  over,  lest  he  should  draw  back,  he  sent  it. 

No  sooner  was  the  missive  gone,  than  he  would  have 
given  worlds  could  it  have  been  recalled. 

Miss  MOLLIE  McCuoss : 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : — I  have  been  thinking  for  a  long 
time  that  our  promises  ought  never  to  be  fulfilled.  My 
circumstances  have  altered,  and  much  more  my  plans  and 
views  of  life.  Your  family  would  never  consent  to  our 
marriage,  even  if  I  asked  it ;  but  for  many  reasons  I  do 
not.  Let  me  make  you  free,  and  for  God's  sake  forgive 
the  pain  you  have  suffered  at  my  hands. 

Louis  ALLWOOD,  convicted  thief. 
TOP  TOWN  PENITENTIARY,  May  1st,  18— 


312  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Louis  waited  his  answer  with  a  wish  that  may  seem 
strange  to  us,  people  out  of  prison.  Not  only  did  he 
long  to  set  his  gnawing  anxiety  at  rest,  but  he  felt  a 
childish  longing  to  touch  something  that  carne  from  the 
world.  He  debated  if  the  paper  it  would  be  written 
upon  would  turn  out  square  or  old-fashioned,  pink  or 
lavender  ;  and  hoped  it  would  be  thick  and  white.  He 
would  like  the  last  missive  from  his  vanishing  love  to  be 
untinged  with  foreign  color. 

But  no  word  reached  him.  Alternately  he  argued 
good  and  ill  from  this,  and  failed  not  to  torture  himself 
with  the  idea  that  she  despised  him,  had  cast  him  off 
out  of  her  thoughts,  was  only  insulted  by  that  heartless 
letter.  He  felt  that  her  respect  was  justly  forfeit,  but 
somehow  failed  to  find  comfort  in  the  complete  success  of 
his  note. 

Then  he  got  a  new  idea  ;  he  had  wounded  her  too  much, 
should  have  permitted  her  to  wean  herself  gradually,  and 
when  strong  enough  demand  her  own  dismissal ;  or  if 
not,  perhaps  she  was  sick.  At  this  all  his  love  took  a 
new  channel.  He  forgot  that  she  was  nothing  to  him — 
only  knew  that  he  could  not  see,  help,  watch  over  her. 
Here,  caged,  immured  alive,  he  could  afford  no  aid,  could 
not  even  beg  forgiveness  for  what  he  had  made  her  suffer. 
It  seemed  little  enough  once ;  most  people  would  not  have 
counted  it  anything ;  but  now  it  piled  mountains  high. 
He  wearied  himself  with  frantic  longings,  desires,  peti 
tions,  to  a  God  he  understood  not. 

To  this  was  soon,  added  a  new  pang.  We  hear  of  those 
old  torture-chambers  that  contracted  daily.  Every  morn 
ing  the  prisoner  awoke  to  find  the  roof  a  little  nearer  his 
breast,  every  night  lay  down  in  a  more  straitened  place, 
until  at  last  the  relentless  pressure  acted  on  a  mass  of 
broken  flesh. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  313 

When  Louis  entered  his  cell,  he' possessed  a  mind  limit 
ed  only  by  the  universe ;  and  that  mind  was  bound  to  a 
body  exquisitely  sensitive.  What  became  irksome  to 
some,  was  absolute  misery  to  him.  He  used  to  long  for 
a  breath  of  free-meadow  sunlight  with  such  intensity, 
that  the  wish  became  a  physical  pang.  He  would  stand 
by  his  grating  at  night  and  press  upon  it  with  a  blind 
force  that  reacted  against  himself,  and  made  him  frantic. 
He  was  a  prisoner.  Oh,  the  untold  misery  of  the  thought ! 
Without  the  sky  smiled  in  one  great  happiness,  the  very 
reflex  of  God's  face.  One  by  one  the  well-remembered 
flowers  came  into  bloom.  Little  by  little  the  leaves  took 
their  fiery  coloring,  and  the  woods  lived  their  familiar 
round  of  pleasant  nature-story.  Oh,  for  a  single  half-hour 
to  feel  the  throb  of  nature's  great  heart  in  the  wood 
lands,  in  the  fields,  anywhere,  where  he  could  forget  his 
humanity,  and  be  at  rest.  But  no  :  day  by  day  his  soul 
horizon  contracted  ;  he  felt  the  narrow  walls  of  his  cell 
shutting  off  his  mind's  outlook.  His  thoughts  no  longer 
fled  over  the  world.  They  all  centred  within  the  limits 
of  the  prison,  the  overseer's  frown,  the  denied  meal,  the 
weary  day's  work,  and  worst  of  all  himself. 

In  this  God-ordained  detenus  there  was  chapel  every 
Sunday  morning.  Once  from  among  the  representatives 
of  Christ's  law  and  mercy  on  the  platform,  a  gentleman, 
high  in  the  honors  of  the  State,  stood  forth  to  address  the 
convicts. 

"  Men,"  said  he,  playing  with  the  massive  chain  that 
adorned  his  breast,  and  gazing  from  stainless  broadcloth 
upon  the  purposely  hideous  garb  of  his  audience — "  Men, 
you're  here,  and  I'm  glad  of  it.  You've  done  wrong, 
you  are  suffering  for  it.  You  ought  to  suffer."  His 
voice,  the  living  breath  of  the  stony  chapel,  rang  out 
harshly,  his  shaggy,  gray-knotted  eyebrows  wore  a  frown. 
U 


314  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Looking  on  the  penniless,  he  fingered  his  golden  orna 
ments.  Respectability  was  come  to  reform  humanity. 
"  Every  man  who  suffers,"  said  he,  "  earns  his  own  suf 
fering.  If  I  have  sent  some  of  you  here  I  count  it  a  good 
deed.  If  you  don't  want  to  suffer,  don't  do  wrong." 
The  modern  Christ  sat  down,  and  his  listeners,  under  the 
warden's  eye,  clapped  applause.  Among  their  sullen 
faces  were  some  flushed  with  powerless  anger,  but  in  such 
the  wound  soon  healed.  Louis  was  not  one  of  these. 
"  Every  man  earns  his  own  suffering."  He  never  forgot 
that.  He  began  to  search  his  life  for  the  causes  of  his 
misfortunes,  and  finding  sin  in  plenty,  his  heart  to  note 
the  origin  of  that  sin.  The  more  we  know  of  a  man's 
soul,  the  more  cordially  we  can  despise,  abhor  him,  upon 
occasion.  All  Louis'  abhorrence  of  his  fellows  never 
began  to  equal  his  I6athing  for  himself.  Once  commenced, 
this  self-laceration  grew  into  a  mania.  His  thoughts, 
memories,  sensations,  were  ransacked  to  add  fuel  to  his 
torment.  His  life  seemed  to  him  to  have  been  only  a 
tissue  of  wasted  opportunity,  abused  privilege,  and  petty 
crime.  He  studied  faithfully  the  prison  Bible,  to  observe 
that  every  leaf  teemed  with  maledictions.  He  wished 
to  escape  from  his  own  existence,  but  be  was  shut  in  with 
himself.  Formerly,  too,  he  had  desired  to  die,  but  now 
he  feared  the  very  thought.  Prison  life  was  doing  its 
work.  Poor  fellow,  he  seldom  dreamed  of  Mollie  any 
more ;  her  memory  was  the  contrasted  light  to  make  his 
darkness  blacker.  He  hated,  in  the  intervals  of  his  self- 
torture,  his  cell,  his  workshop.  He  knew  every  nook 
and  cranny  in  their  bare  walls.  His  artist-soul  detested 
their  ugliness.  He  envied  his  neighbor's  red  and  yellow 
tissue  paper,  and  began  to  calculate  ho,w  it  could  be  stolen. 
Reflecting  on  the  sin  of  this,  he  became  convinced  he  \ras 
losing  all  his  principle.  The  unvarying  routine  of  life, 


SHIFTLESS-  FOLKS.  315 

made  purposely  of  the  utmost  possible  blankness,  mad 
dened  liirn.  He  craved  excitement.  Once  he  found  him 
self  examining  his  tools  to  see  if  one  of  them  could  not 
be  made  to  plunge  into  the  overseer's  heart.  He  even 
filed  a  little  on  the  knife.  Presently  he  saw  two  white 
doves  flitting  about  the  prison-yard,  and  remembered 
Mollie  with  her  birds  flying  about  her.  As  her  face  came 
sorrowfully  before  him,  the  horrid  thought  passed  out  of 
his  heart.  He  went  to  the  overseer  and  told  him  he 
feared  he  was  going  mad,  showed  him  the  knife,  and 
begged  for  a  few  minutes'  relief — only  a  little  walk  about 
the  garden — anything  to  take  the  leaden  pressure  from 
his  soul.  The  man  laughed  in  his  face.  "  You  aren't 
going  mad,  but  I'll  tell  you  where  you  are  going — into 
the  dark  cells,  for  injuring  the  prison  property.  I'd  like 
to  know  what  you  mean,  filin'  shoe-knives !  I've  got  a 
man  a  dozen  for  less  'n  that." 

Somehow  this  didn't  mend  matters.  The  prisoner's 
mind  grew  heavy,  his  motions  sluggish.  He  feared  his 
intellect  was  broken,  and  begged  for  books,  but  they 
were  useless.  In  the  depth  of  his  misfortunes,  the  fan 
cied  sorrows  of  fancied  heroes,  or  the  half-told  woes  of 
real  ones,  seemed  alike  shallow. 

Then  began  a  race  against  time,  a  fight  against  idiocy. 
He  forced  himself  to  perform  difficult  operations  in  math 
ematics,  to  invent  stories,  to  remember  history.  But 
how  could  added  labor  bring  health  to  the  weary  brain  ? 

He  was  a  shadow  in  thinness.  His  pulse  ran  high  and 
unevenly  ;  he  couldn't  sleep  ;  every  nerve  was  a  separate 
source  of  pain.  The  rough  ways  of  the  prison  employes 
jarred  him,  their  profanity  disgusted,  their  frequent  ex 
hibitions  of  brute  power  made  him  sick  at  soul.  Louis 
was,  we  say  it  again,  in  a  model  prison.  You  could 
march  a  regiment  through  any  of  its  workshops,  and  not 


316  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

a  man  would  look  up.  They  made  more  money  for  the 
State,  and  enriched  more  contractors,  than  any  similar 
number  of  convicts  in  the  Union.  And  it  was  all  accom 
plished  neatly,  too  ;  with  green  peas,  and  strawberries, 
and  the  Dorsey  (God  bless  it)  dinner,  every  whit  noticed 
in  the  Top  Town  papers.  They  neither  poured  gallons 
of  ice-water  over  strangling  men,  as  in  Auburn,  nor  made 
their  subjects  idiotic  by  compression  of  the  brain,  as  at 
Sing-Sing.  They  hung  morality  011  the  three  tails  of  a 
cat,  and  reformed  carnal  vices  by  a  diet  of  nothing. 

Louis  was  too  obedient  to  suffer  unusually,  but  next  to 
him  worked  a  red-headed,  red-eyed  Irishman,  whose  face 
alone  must  have  condemned  him  before  an  intelligent  jury. 
On  this  young  villain  fell  the  weight  of  prison  discipline. 
Sometimes,  about  once  a  year,  a  man  killed  himself  in 
these  retreats  for  soul  elevation.  Louis  wished  this  fellow 
would ;  but  no — it  seemed  he  preferred  to  be  killed. 

But  what  is  the  use  of  thus  chronicling  his  misery  ? 
Wasn't  Louis  sentenced  for  crime,  and  sent  to  the  Top 
Town  Penitentiai'y  on  purpose  to  suffer  ?  and  doesn't  every 
other  prisoner  carry  such  a  load?  and  isn't  it  according  to 
one  of  God's  own  Bible  precepts,  that  we  should  button  up 
our  pockets,  and  build  the  prisons  in  chills-and-fever 
marshes,  where  property  is  low  ?  and  sensible — humbly 
sensible,  as  we  all  announce  ourselves  at  prayer-meeting 
• — of  our  personal  helplessness  in  the  matter  of  any  good 
work,  hasten  to  get  these  souls  back  into  the  hands  of 
their  Maker  with  all  speed  ? 

Matters  were  just  here,  when  Louis  felt  himself 
pointed  out  by  a  visitor.  "  That  fellow  is  dying,"  said 
the  gentleman.  "  He  won't  live  two  months." 

His  listener  was  glad.  "  Hell,"  said  he,  "  is  the  life  I 
lead,  with  this  difference — ten-cent  visitors  are  not  ad 
mitted  in  hell." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  317 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

"  I'll  give  to  you  the  .key  of  my  heart, 
That  we  may  love  and  never  part." 

IIITH  the  first  gleam  of  returning  reason,  came 
the  thought  of  Louis ;  and  as  Mollie  lay  upon 
her  bed,  her  mind  laboring  in  the  wearing 
treadmill  of  thought,  she  reasoned  it  all  o\\t  again  and 
again.  Intense,  sensitive,  tenacious,  she  was  essentially 
an  out-going,  not  an  in-gathering  woman,  and  everywhere 
met  by  hurts,  she  had  unconsciously  learned  to  conceal 
herself  from  the  world,  in  an  outwardly  calm,  almost 
passionless,  exterior.  To  no  one,  not  even  Louis,  was 
she  her  real  self;  and  Peace,  who  loved  her  best  of  all 
women,  said  she  felt  as  if  Mollie  was  in  strata — every  one 
different,  and  the  temperature  gradually  increasing. 

Accordingly,  though  she  read  Louis'  letter  backward  to 
its  cause,  with  unerring  precision,  she  suffered  the  more 
for  this  very  thing.  To  her,  the  bungling  note  spoke 
love,  constancy,  and  misery  unfathomable.  There  is  a 
certain  comfort  in  one's  own  pain.  One  can  then  always 
say,  "  Come,  and  behold  how  wretched  I  am."  But 
Mollie  never  remembered  herself  at  all.  After  she  parted 
from  Louis  at  the  jail,  that  dreary  day,  her  outward  ex 
istence  became  a  dream.  Her  actual  life  was  all  within, 
an  imagined,  and  yet  terribly  real  one,  with  him  its 
centre.  Nor  had  this  very  subtilty  of  pain  a  slight 
cause  for  being.  Mollie  had  not  taught  in  mission- 
school,  and  failed  to  learn  the  ways  and  abuses  of  our 
penal  institutions,  and  a  woman's  imagination  needs  not 
the  spur  of  affection  to  set  it  at  work.  She  knew  of 
shower-baths,  iron-crowns,  starving,  balls  and  chains, 


318  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

beating  with  paddles,  deprivation  of  light,  practised  in  the 
soft  retirement  of  American  reformatories.  She  had  heard 
sickening  tales  of  cruelty  on  one  side,  and  passive  endur 
ance  on  the  other,  from  an  old  guard  who  had  served  in 
them.  He  boasted  of  prison  brutality  and  his  tender 
heart  in  the  same  breath.  Let  us  do  him  justice — he 
was  oftener  an  observer  than  an  actor  in  such  scenes. 
Mollie's  ignorant  and  untaught  boys  had  passed  into  the 
horrible  arena,  and  she  shuddered  and  suffered.  Now 
her  lover  was  the  victim.  By  night  she  dreamed  of  tor 
tures  unendurable,  and  woke  to  set  uncertainty  at  battle 
with  fear.  By  day  she  panted  in  his  stifling  cell.  She 
could  not  eat,  because  he  might  be  starved.  Her  time 
divided  itself  into  the  prison  hours.  She  shrank  from 
human  touch  or  speech,  because  he  could  not  touch  his 
fellow  or  speak.  She  loathed  the  world  for  his  sake,  who 
was  cut  off  from  it ;  obeyed  the  wishes  of  her  friends 
without  comment,  and  became  more  self-devouring  within, 
but  inert  and  deathlike  without,  every  day.  He  had 
been  growing  into  her  life,  ever  since  he  came  to  her 
father's  house,  a  gentie,  silent  child,  given  to  lonely 
pleasures,  absorbed  in  the  books  and  music  Mrs.  McCross 
dared  not  deny  her  husband's  ward.  Mollie  had  shyly 
proffered  companionship  in  his  pursuits,  and  worshipped 
his  idols  afar  off.  He,  in  turn,  found  his  butterflies 
gayer,  his  Mendelssohn  more  tender,  with  her  to  share. 
Louis  interpreted  other  authors,  but  Seraphael  was  too 
twiu-natured  to  him,  to  be  anything  but  his  voice. 
Later,  he  translated  Homer  into  Scotch  ballad  meter,  be 
cause  she  loved  to  listen,  and  read  Plato  into  English  a 
little  too  delicate  to  be  earnest,  to  an  absorbed  critic. 
She  pushed  him  into  Euclid  and  higher  mathematics,  be 
cause  he  was  ashamed  to  be  beaten  with  a  man's 
weapons,  and  yet  admired  her  for  his  defeat. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  319 

So  they  had  triumphed  and  suffered  together,  and 
grown  into  harmony  of  life,  if  not  oneness  of  aim — Mol- 
lie,  rich  in  her  father's  love,  bestowing  pity,  admiration, 
and  affection,  all  at  once ;  Louis,  finding  his  needs  of 
companionship,  satisfied  to  the  uttermost  in  her. 

As  a  child,  he  played  with  her.  It  is  chronicled  that 
the  Deacon  once  saved  her  from  an  untimely  end,  having 
found  her  buried  up  to  her  neck  in  a  pit,  her  yellow  hair 
streaming  over  the  ground,  her  calm  eyes  fixed  on  Louis 
with  implicit  confidence.  Louis,  who  was  in  the  act  of 
putting  the  final  shovelfuls  of  earth  over  her,  d  la  some 
savage  funeral  rite  which  filled  his  imagination.  As  a 
boy,  he  worshipped  her ;  as  a  man,  he  trusted  her. 

When  the  Deacon  declared  his  ward's  property  lost  by 
failure  of  investments,  no  one  cared  to  question ;  and 
by  and  by  Louis  went  to  work  to  earn  his  bread,  and  a 
little  over,  if  he  could,  for  Mollie.  For,  as  we  know,  it 
had  become  the  great  joy  of  this  simple  pair,  alike  unfel- 
lowed  by  the  world,  that  they  possessed  each  other. 

Now,  when  one  of  these  interwoven  lives  was  full  of 
agony,  what  marvel  that  the  other  recipi-ocated  every  pang  ? 

About  a  month  after  this  refinement  of  suffering  had 
commenced,  Mr.  Growing  brought  religion  to  give  Mol 
lie  strength  to  bear  longer.  He  was  going  to  call  on 
Louis.  Would  she  send  a  little  token  that  he  could  turn 
over  and  over  every  day  ? 

She  thanked  him.  She  would  try  to  think  of  some 
thing.  Would  he  want  it  to-morrow? 

No !  not  so  soon ;  but  she  could  send  it  any  time. 
He  rose  to  go.  She  followed  him  to  the  door,  mechanic 
ally,  and  stood  leaning  against  the  frame.  Instead  of 
going  out,  he  turned  and  examined  her  wasted  face.  Its 
weary,  pained  expression  wrung  his  heart.  She  looked 
unearthly  in  the  twilight. 


320  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Fred  Growing  was  a  real  pastor,  who  took  rip  and  car 
ried  every  one's  burden  by  instinct.  He  could  not  leave 
this  sufferer  withoxit  attempting  aid. 

"  Mollie,"  he  said  in  his  pleading  tones,  "  you  were 
the  fh-st  lamb  God  gave  to  my  flock.  Do  you  remember 
how  you  entered  my  study  timidly,  and  told  me  you 
thought  you  could  trust  yourself  in  His  hands  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  wishing  he  would  cease  to  speak 
of  things  whose  meaning  had  become  far  off  in  her  great 
sorrow. 

"  And  you  have  forgotten  how  you  came  afterward, 
and  said  yon  began  to  understand  the  way  God  suffers 
daily  for  us?  " 

"  No!  Louis  v.-alked  up  with  me  that  night,  and  stood 
outside  playing  with  the  lilac  blossoms,  while  I  talked  to 
you.  My  Louis,"  she  continued,  with  a  passion  in  vivid 
contrast  to  her  former  lifeless  expression — "  my  Louis, 
whom  they  have  wickedly  taken  away  from  all  the  beau 
tiful  things  he  loved." 

"  This  is  Christian,"  said  Mr.  Growing,  gently.  "  You 
trust  your  lover  among  the  lilac  blossoms,  and  are  afraid 
to  deliver  him  to  Christ's  keeping." 

The  quiet  thrust  went  home,  for  Mollie  was  conscien 
tious  as  earnest.  She  tried  after  this  to  believe  more  and 
grieve  less,  and  so  kept  up  till  the  letter  arrived.  But 
when  she  read  that  misery -begotten  note,  she  felt  that  the 
•worst  had  come  to  pass  :  he  had  given  «p  hope.  "  They 
have  murdered  him,"  thought  she j  "God,  let  us  die." 

B\it  she  didn't  die,  and  now  as  she  lay  feebly  reflecting 
upon  her  lover's  case,  the  thought  entered  her  half-crazed 
brain,  that  they  two  had  been  marked  out  to  suffer. 
Some  people  were.  After  they  had  borne  enough,  they 
would  endure  one  more  pang,  and  through  it  be  rid  of  life, 
and  all  it  was  a  name  for. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  321 

She  remembered  a  dreary  saying,  that  in  happier  times 
she  had  laughed  at  with  Louis :  "  Let  this  be  my  com 
fort,  to  be  willing  to  lack  all  human  comfort." 

Sometimes  she  tried  vaguely  to  make  it  her  own,  and 
sometimes  strove  to  drive  it  from  her.  In  either  case  it 
was  ever-present — all-powerful.  At  last  she  gave  up  the 
struggle,  and  settled  down  to  it  as  a  fact.  And  religion, 
came  to  proclaim  patience  under  it  a  duty  as  God's  will ; 
and  so,  even  in  this  bitter  way,  his  right  hand  upheld  her 
in  the  darkness. 

She  had  scarcely  become  able  to  sit  up  a  few  minutes 
at  a  time,  when  she  received  a  visit  of  importance  from 
her  father.  Not  that  he  seldom  came ;  on  the  contrary, 
when  she  was  delirious  he  would  steal  to  her  bedside, 
and  pretend  to  scan  the  localisms  of  the  "  Universe,"  while 
his  poor  old  eyes  were  filled  with  tears  as  he  listened  to 
her  wandering  talk.  After  her  reason  returned,  he  used 
to  bring  little  bouquets,  and  lay  them  wistfully  on  her 
pillow ;  and  when  she  grew  stronger,  he  ransacked  the 
town  for  poetry  he  fancied  she  liked,  and  read  it  in  a 
high,  cracked  voice,  whose  gentle  quaver  spoke  a  world 
of  love  and  sorrow  not  set  down  in  the  pages  rendered. 

Mollie,  even  when  her  heart  was  sorest,  never  blamed 
him  for  her  troubles.  She  shut  such  a  thought  resolutely 
out  of  her  mind.  "  He  couldn't  help  it,  poor  father," 
was  her  excuse  ;  and  she  forgave  and  loved,  and  was  gent 
ler,  sweeter,  and  more  tender  to  him  than  ever. 

But  this  time  he  entered  with  no  cheerful  alacrity, — 
rather  as  if  impelled  by  some  unseen,  malevolent  force. 
He  sat  down  by  her  guiltily,  and  gave  an  uneasy  glance 
around,  especially  at  the  tight-shut  door.  Then  he 
spread  his  red-silk  handkerchief  on  the  knees  of  his  black 
pants,  and,  smoothing  the  thin  gray  hair  OTer  his  bala 
crown,  began  deprecatingly : 
14* 


322  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  I'm  an  old  man,  Mollie,  and  your  mother  is  a  trifle 
set,  you  know — " 

The  girl  felt  some  new  trouble  coming.  She  was  so 
learned  in  the  ins  and  outs  of  his  abused,  weak  heart, 
she  had  forgiven  and  pitied  and  grieved  for  him  so  long, 
she  suffered  with  instinctive  fear  of  his  next  words. 
Yet  she  strengthened  herself  to  view  the  case  from  his 
standpoint,  and  to  forget  her  own  in  his  interest.  So 
she  laid  her  hand  feebly  on  his  tremulous  fingers,  because 
he  loved  the  little  caress.  "  Go  on,  father,"  said  she,  as 
brightly  as  she  could. 

"  I  know  it's  a  hard  thing  to  ask,"  he  averred,  pro- 
testingly  ;  "  but  your  mother's  feelings  are  strong.  She, 
— did  you  know  she  was  quite  sick  ?  "  said  Le,  coining 
to  a  full  stop,  and  giving  an  uneasy  twist  beneath  his 
daughter's  solemn  gaze. 

"  Go  on,  papa,  dear,"  said  Mollie,  blanching  about  the 
lips,  but  even  then  rallying  a  little  more  firmness.  "  Go 
on,  please." 

"  I  don't  like  to  ask  you,  but  I  want  to  end  my  days 
in  peace  and  quietness,"  reiterated  he,  beseechingly.  He 
took  up  the  red  'kr rchief  and  wiped  the  beaded  drops 
from  his  bald  forehead.  "  I'm  a  peaceable  man,  daugh 
ter." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  she,  faintly  as  a  whisper  now — her 
heart  sinking  lower  at  every  halt. 

"  You  are  a  good  girl,  Mollie,"  he  began  again,  gain 
ing  courage  as  hers  fled.  "  You  never  said  anything  to 
me  about  the  burglary,  though  I  know  it  has  fretted  you 
sorely.  It  wasn't  right,  no  way ;  but  your  mother  and 
young  Brown  patched  it  up  between  them.  I  only  swore 
truth,  and  paid  the  law  bill.  I  only  swore  truth,  Mollie." 

She  assented  after  a  long  pause,  in  which  he  watched 
her  face  wistfully.  He  was  waiting,  eager  and  agitated, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  323 

but  she  could  not  bring  herself  to  speak.  She  had  for 
given,  but  her  heart  was  still  sore.  Her  father  felt  her 
thought,  and  got  up,  and  wandered  nervously  about  the 
room,  threw  open  the  shutters  and  arranged  the  curtains, 
looked  at  the  garden,  with  his  tremulous  fingers  crossed 
behind  him.  A  well-known  step  was  audible  below, — a 
step  whose  vigor  ill-health  had  never  subdued,  though  it 
sometimes  dragged  it  a  little.  When  the  Deacon  heard  the 
ominous  sound,  he  came  back  to  the  bed,  and  took  up  the 
hand  Mollie  had  not  moved  since  he  laid  it  on  the  quilt. 
But  the  caress  was  only  the  mute  rendering  of  a  petition, 
not  a  motion  of  sympathy  or  love. 

"  I  don't  want  you  to  give  him  up,  my  child  ;  he  is  a 
good  lad  enough.  But  could  you  promise  not  to  meet 
him,  or  have  anything  to  do  with  him,  while  I  am  alive  ? 
Your  mother  takes  it  to  heart  dreadfully ;  she  talks  by 
day  and  night  of  it.  You  have  a  duty  to  your  mother, 
child." 

Mollie  was  still  silent ;  she  had  no  words  to  reply.  A 
sense  of  unbearable  wrong  rose  within  her.  Was  all, 
even  to  the  very  affection  sjie  felt  for  her  father,  to  be 
made  her  curse  ?  for  at  the  moment  it  seemed  that  every 
thing  that  separated  her  from  her  lover  was  a  curse. 
She  drew  her  fingers  away  from  the  hand  that  would 
have  held  them,  and  pushed  them  aimlessly  over  the  cover 
lid. 

11  I  can't,  father  ;  don't  ask  me  !  "  she  cried,  hoarsely. 
The  little  gesture  brought  a  look  of  pain  to  his  wrinkled 
face. 

"  I  hadn't  orter  ask  you ;  but  I'm  breakin'  down  purty 
fast.  I  shouldn't  keep  you  waitin'  long.  I've  ben  think- 
in'  I'd  wish  to  get  breath  like  this  side  the  grave." 

The  woman  watched  him  patiently.  Ife  was  so.  It 
wouldn't  be  long.  Lying  there  with  every  pulse-beat  a 


324:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

throb  of  pain,  days,  even  years,  or  existence  itself, 
seemed  of  little  worth.  Once  she  had  dreaded  suffering, 
as  he  did.  But  now,  when  her  life  was  planned  upon  a 
cha*rt  chequered  only  by  pain,  should  she  let  him  suffer 
too  ?  Once  she  had  longed  for  rest.  She  and  Louis  were 
not  to  have  any  in  this  world,  perhaps.  What  would  be 
a  little  more  trouble  to  bear  ?  It  was  her  duty.  Her 
father  should  not  be  tormented  for  her ;  now  he  had  no 
peace.  The  first  sounds  that  greeted  returning  reason  were 
those  torturing  pathetic  tones  rising  higher  and  higher  in 
endless  argument  and  fault-finding.  Poor  father,  she  was 
stronger  than  he — to  suffer.  She  and  Louis  must  have 
faith  in  each  other  a  little  longer,  that  was  all.  She 
opened  her  weary  eyes,  and  turned  them  lovingly  upon 
the  face  held  toward  her  with  almost  childish  trust.  Was 
it  weakness  or  strength  that  made  her  whisper, 

"  Would  it  help  you  very  much  if  I  should  do  as  you 
ask  ?  " 

Misery  is  selfishness  made  tangible.  Deacon  McCross 
was  very  miserable.  He  never  knew  the  cost  of  her  yield 
ing,  and  he  drew  a  long  breath  of  satisfaction. 

"  It  will  quiet  your  mother.  You  can  write  or  see 
him,  Mollie,  and  tell  him  all  about  it ;  you  know  he  is  a 
kind  boy — and  say  I  always  meant  him  well,  though  it 
wasn't  fair  about  the  burglary.  But  your  mother  did 
that." 

I  believe  the  old  man's  reason  had  begun  to  fail.  For 
charity's  sake  let  us  hope  so.  Mollie  answered,  "  I  will 
do  what  you  ask  ;  "  tried  to  look  happy  until  he  closed  the 
door  behind  him,  as  he  went  half  gladly,  half  guiltily 
from  the  room.  Then  she  turned  herself  to  the  wall  with 
an  exceeding  bitter  cry. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  325 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

"  I  had  a  little  hobby  horse, 

His  name  was  Dapple  Grey, 
I  lent  him  to  a  lady  to  ride  a  mile  away  : 

She  beat  him,  she  lashed  him,  she  rode  him  through  the  mire ; 
I'll  never  lend  my  beast  again  for  any  lady's  hire." 

JRANCIS  HAYTHORNE  was  hugely  enjoying 
himself.  The  soft  sunshine  of  Indian  summer 
poured  over  all  the  land ;  the  parti-colored  trees 
sighed  and  whispered  under  the  wind,  and  all  the  charm 
ing,  sad,  and  yet  hopeful  instincts  of  the  day  touched  his 
sensitive  soul.  He  had  a  large  volume  in  his  hand,  and 
his  face  was  composed  to  the  decent  gravity  of  unruffled 
content. 

"Two  hundred  pages  of  'Innocents  Abroad,'  and  only 
been  obliged  to  laugh  once,"  he  cried  triumphantly  to 
Peace,  who  entered  broom  in  hand.  "  O,  dear  1  you  aren't 
going  to  sweep,  when  I'm  having  such  a  nice  time  ?  " 

The  young  lady  gave  energetic  assent,  and  proceeded 
to  effect  a  commotion  among  the  chairs  and  tables,  which 
the  ousted  reader  watched  with  lazy  dissatisfaction. 
"  Can't  you  put  it  off  till  next  week  ?  "  he  asked  in  a 
pathetic  voice;  "it's  Friday  already." 

"  Just  a  man's  shiftless  notion !  "  retorted  Peace  loftily, 
as  she  paused  to  adjust  a  scarlet  and  yellow  bandanna 
over  her  jetty  locks,  so  as  to  give  the  precise  effect  of  a 
magnificent  Egyptian-girl  study  exhibited  at  Goupil's  last 
winter.  "  I  should  like  to  see  your  house." 

"  I  hope  you  may,"  he  responded.  "  I'll  take  care  it's 
as  well  kept  as  yours !  " 

"  I  don't  doubt  that,  if  there's  any  duty  for  you  to  per 
form  abroad." 


326  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  I  bad  reference  to  the  labors  of  a  charming  young 
person  with  a  bewitching  kerchief  tied  on  askew." 

"  And  he  began  to  compliment,  and  I  began  to  grin," 
rejoined  Miss  Pelican,  with  heightened  color;  "  but  it's 
no  use ;  I  shall  sweep  this  minute :  you  must  move  your 
procrastinating  bones  elsewhere." 

"  On  the  contrary,  I'll  stay  to  assist,"  composedly  set 
tling  himself  in  the  open  window.  "  There !  that  corner 
isn't  half  done ;  two — no,  two  and  a  quarter  specks  on  the 
carpet.  What  makes  you  stir  up  so  much  dust?  My 
mother  never  did.  Why  wouldn't  something  like  a  water 
ing  pot  be  good  to  quiet  it,  scented  with  rose-water  or 
patchouli  ?  You'll  have  to  hurry,  or  one  half  the  carpet 
will  be  worn  out  before  you  get  to  the  other.  I  guess 
I'll  open  the  door." 

"  You've  blown  every  bit  of  the  dirt  back !  "  cried 
Peace,  rapidly  getting  angry.  "  If  you  don't  leave  the 
room  I  shan't  go  on." 

"  Quite  right ;  do  stop,"  said  he,  sinking  into  an  arm 
chair  and  fanning  himself  with  the  cover  of  the  "  Inno 
cents."  "  It  makes  me  tired  only  to  look  at  you.  Come, 
sit  down  and  tell  me  the  origin  of  this  sudden  fit  of 
industry." 

"  Because,"  said  Peace  with  a  tempting  pout  of  ripe 
red  lips,  "you  and  Charley  are  so  shiftless;  I'm  out  of 
patience  -with  you  both.  People  who  don't  work,  get  to 
be  worth  just  nothing  at  all.  I  lose  all  my  respect  for 
folks  like  you,  who  don't  raise  a  finger  for  any  one's  help 
for  the  twelvemonth  together.  I  shan't  countenance  you 
in  it  a  day  longer." 

"  If  a  man  ought  to  accomplish  all  that  is  required  of 
him,  he  must  hold  himself  for  more  than  he  is,"  quoted 
Mr.  Haythorne  complacently ;  "  I'm  satisfied  with  myself; 
isn't  that  enough  ?  " 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  327 

"  No,"  said  Peace,  "  and  it  isn't  true,  either.  You  are 
ashamed  of  your  inefficient,  dawdling,  dilly-dally,  shilly 
shally,  small  loss,  fiddle-faddle  existence:  I  know  you 
are." 

She  was  so  animated  that  he  couldn't  resist  saying: 
"  Any  more  adjectives  ?  "  in  his  laziest  drawl ;  but  he 
wondered  in  his  secret  heart  how  she  happened  upon  the 
discovery. 

She  paused  while  she  drew  in  her  full,  free  breath — 
Peace  looked  instinct  with  power  when  she  breathed — and 
studied  his  face.  Only  a  second,  however :  Miss  Pelican 
never  stopped  long  for  anything. 

"  Why  don't  you  energize  ?  "  cried  she ;  "  rush  out 
and  cure  somebody.  Dear  me,  if  I  was  a  man,  there 
isn't  much  I  wouldn't  do." 

Francis  Haythorne  said  he  had  no  doubt  of  it ;  to 
judge  by  women's  habits  in  their  own  sphere,  they'd 
sweep  the  world  with  the  besom  of  destruction  if  they 
had  a  chance.  By  the  way,  if  so  emulous  of  notoriety, 
why  didn't  they  distinguish  themselves  in  dusting  or 
washing  matches  ?  It  would  give  them  something  to  do 
at  any  rate. 

"  Women's  lives  don't  lack  work,  but  unity  of  purpose. 
With  a  central  aim,  and  their  tireless  industry,  what 
might  they  not  accomplish  ?  "  returned  Peace  earnestly  ; 
and  she  was  going  to  enlarge  on  her  theme,  when  a  mis 
chievous  curl  at  the  corners  of  her  hearer's  auburn  mous 
tache  quenched  her  eloquence. 

"  Now  what  is  it  ?  "  said  she,  stopping  short,  with  rising 
wrath. 

"  I  was  only  thinking  of  Goethe's  frogs,"  he  replied 
in  a  mock  apology  of  manner  that  only  made  his  malice 
more  exasperating. 

"  Go  on,"  said  Peace,  tapping  her  foot  impatiently ; 


328  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  you  may  as  well  out  with  your  meanness  as  keep  it 
bottled  up  in  your  heart." 

The  tease  caressed  his  flowing  beard  gently,  and  re 
peated  the  well-known  lines  with  slow  and  emphatic  dic 
tion: 

"  '  A  certain  pond  was  frozen  over ; 
The  frogs  beneath  its  shady  cover 
Could  no  more  croak  and  leap  ; 
They  dreamed,  however,  half  asleep, 
That  by  the  next  return  of  spring 
They  all  like  nightingales  would  sing. 
The  south  wind  came,  the  ice  it  thawed, 
And  soon  the  frogs  were  all  abroad ; 
And  seated  now  around  the  shore, 
They  croaked  away  as  heretofore.' 

That's  the  woman  question  in  a  nut-shell !  "  said  he  die- 
tatorily. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  a  cherub  on  a  tombstone  ?  "  asked 
Peace,  punching  her  nose  in  with  her  forefinger  and 
pu fling  out  her  cheeks,  to  no  inaccurate  representation. 

"  I'll  never  attempt  to  argue  with  you  again  !  "  he  re 
joined,  nettled  at  her  naughty  settlement  of  his  quota 
tion,  though  she  was  only  paying  him  back  in  his  own 
coin  ;  "  I  like  people  to  use  common-sense." 

"  Jacky  wouldn't,  cause  he  couldn't,"  sang  she  mock 
ingly  and  bitter,  as  she  rose  and  flourished  her  broom. 
"  I  am  going  to  work.  But  since  you  would  like  an  an 
swer  in  kind,  I'm  willing. 

"Froggy  would  a  wooing  go, 

Whether  his  offer  was  wanted  or  no ; 

And  thus  this  lovesick  youth  he  bespoke  her  : 

4  Will  you  marry  me,  dear  Ally  Croaker  ?  '  To  which  she  answered, 

'  Oh,  what  is  life  that  we  should  fret,  why  make  we  such  ado  ? 

I'm  ower  young  to  marry  yet :  I  canna — winna,  buckle  to." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  329 

"  That  lies  quite  within  my  capacity ;  I'm  sorry  I 
couldn't  go  any  deeper,  but  then  I  don't  live  in  froggy's 
well,  you  know.  I've  been  happier  since  I  had  an  am 
bition  ;  probably  you  wouldn't.  Ambition  and  self-com 
placency  don't  go  nicely  together.  1  never  said  I  didn't 
belong  in  the  bog,  you  know ;  it  was  reserved  for  the 
nobler  patrician  to  deny  his  extraction  and  imitate  the 
nightingale." 

"  Now,  Miss  Peace,  don't !  "  he  cried,  rather  startled 
at  the  genius  he  had  evoked.  "  I  didn't  really  mean  it. 
I  do  think  you've  been  more  comfortable  of  late — that  is 
for  you.  Won't  you  put  down  your  arms,  and  tell  a  fel 
low  ?  I'm  interested — honor  bright." 

Peace,  whose  roses  had  deepened  with  roused  pride, 
gave  him  a  quick,  sharp  look  to  convince  herself  of  his 
truth.  He  really  was  ashamed,  and  drawing  a  chintz- 
covered  easy-chair  toward  the  window  seat,  pointed  to 
it  entreatingly.  He  didn't  quite  like  the  idea  of  array 
ing  the  inferior  feminine  animus  against  himself,  con 
scious  perhaps  of  certain  missing  defences,  such  as  one 
would  expect  to  find  in  the  ideal  perfection  at  war  with 
a  deteriorated  type.  He  hadn't  his  usual  fluency  of  rep 
artee  in  face  of  the  situation,  and  Miss  Pelican,  finding 
him  vanquished,  pitied,  and,  woman-like,  began  patching 
up  his  tattered  self-conceit  with  all  possible  expedition, 
and  talked  with  a  confiding  air,  becoming  as  infrequent. 

Francis  Haythorne  refrained  from  smiling  by  a 
mighty  effort,  as  she  unfolded  her  heart ;  she  was  so  sim 
ple,  though  it  only  added  to  her  charms. 

"  Undo  the  harm  of  your  father's  trade  !  why,  Miss 
Peace,  how  can  you  ?  You  don't  propose  exhorting  the 
well-dressed  frequenters  of  the  Cereus,  or  drying  the  tears 
you  suspect  their  families  to  shed.  To  clothe  ragged 
drunkards  is  giving  them  exactly  so  much  more  whiskey. 


330  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

No !  no !  what  do  you  want  of  a  wider  sphere  ?  You 
are  too  nice  to  waste  your  thoughts  on  such  wretches. 
To  brush  away  the  cobwebs  from  our  misty  brains  is  the 
sum  total  we  gentlemen  ask  of  you." 

Peace  looked  hurt.  "  That  is  all  any  one  has  to  say  to 
me,"  said  she  hastily.  "  There  is  no  place  in  the  world 
for  women,  except  as  a  kind  of  intellectual  parlor  maids  to 
their  male  acquaintance.  I  am  planned  for  something 
better.  Francis  Haythorne,  if  you  were  any  use  in  the 
world  yourself,  I  should  have  more  respect  for  your 
opinions." 

"  No,"  said  he,  with  a  bright  look.  "  You  think  so,  be 
cause  you  have  never  tried  to  be  the  mistress  of  the 
house." 

But  the  same  inspiration  doesn't  invariably  shine 
upon  two  people  at  once,  and  she  went  on  vehemently : 
"  I've  thought  and  suffered  too  much  in  these  last  three 
years,  not  to  speak  by  experience.  You  can't  tell  how 
this  God-cursed  trade  stands  between  me  and  the  barest 
comfort.  It  is  not  too  much  to  give  my  whole  life  to 
clearing  myself  of  the  stain.  It  is  my  torment — in  church, 
in  society,  among  my  friends.  If  I  enter  my  carriage, 
the  very  stones  seem  to  cry  out  against  me.  It  wasn't 
enough  that  my  brother  should  be  ruined,  but  every  one 
who  loves  me  must  suffer ;  and  now  for  weeks  I've 
watched  my  best  friend  hovering  between  life  and  death, 
all  because  her  foolish  lover  must  pander  his  courage, 
ambition,  earnestness,  to  the  same  detestable  trade,  and 
suffers  the  consequences.  If  she  had  died,  we  would  have 
been  murderers.  I  wish  I  was  dead,  everybody  was 
dead ! — at  least  I  did,  till  I  thought  I  saw  a  way  to  stem 
the  tide  just  a  little.  Don't  say  you  think  it  folly," 
continued  she,  lifting  her  eyes  pleadingly  to  his  face,  as  if 
the  decision  rested  entirely  on  him. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  331 

The  self-elected  arbiter  of  her  destiny  was  convinced 
that  it  was,  but  his  reply  savored  of  the  \isual  masculine 
dissimulation  toward  women.  "  Poor  thing,"  thought  he ; 
"  she  seems  quite  worked  up.  She  may  as  well  amuse 
herself  this  way  as  any  other,  if  it's  a  comfort.  She 
hasn't  the  slightest  idea  of  connected  work,  and  so  can't 
make  any  mischief  ;  and  it's  quite  pretty  and  feminine  of 
her  to  want  to  try  to  do  something.  Decidedly  she 
should  be  encouraged." 

So  he  said,  "  No,  indeed  !  I  don't  say  it's  useless,  but  I 
wouldn't  let  any  one  know  I  thought  of  it.  It  might — • 
well,  people  might  talk." 

Poor  Peace!  Charley  could  be  notorious  for  folly, 
Louis  for  crime,  Mollie's  troubles  town  gossip,  her  own 
home  turned  inside  out  by  tattlers ;  it  was  all  right.  But 
she  mustn't  stir  hand  or  foot  to  mend  matters,  because 
women  weren't  accustomed  to  do  anything,  and  Mrs. 
Grundy  would  be  astonished.  Peace  felt,  as  every  ear 
nest  women  has  felt  before  her,  that  womanhood  is  hemmed 
in  so  as  to  be  a  curse ;  or,  to  put  it  another  way,  that 
womanhood  striving  to  rise  from  its  praying  and  ador 
ing  knees,  and  stand  upon  its  own  God-given  feet,  is 
cursed  of  all  mankind,  and  she  said  so  then  and  there 
with  a  force  that  horrified  her  admirer.  "  I  will  not  give 
uj>  my  life  to  no  account  trifles,"  cried  she  indignantly. 
"If  I've  anything  in  me  that  will  give  me  a  career,  I'll 
develop  it,  and  make  my  mark  in  the  world." 

Francis  Haythorne  hoped  she  wouldn't.  It  wasn't 
feminine  business  to  be  making  marks ;  he  couldn't  see 
why  she  should  want  to,  when  she  could  appear  so  ad 
vantageously  at  home,  devoting  herself  to  the  everyday, 
planless  prettinesses  of  a  woman's  life.  He  resolved  to  act 
a  friendly  part  and  keep  her  as  quiet  as  possible. 

Peace's  energies  were  not  exerted  without  due  cause  that 


S32  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

autumn  morning.  She  had  no  less  visitors  than  the  Mc- 
Crosses  in  expectation,  and  she  gave  them  the  royal  care 
of  her  own  hands,  busying  herself  with  all  those  dainty 
love-suggested  arrangements  and  rearrangements  that 
sing  welcome  and  joyful  recognition  at  every  turn. 

Peace  never  received  a  guest  without  such  care,  but  to 
day  Abigail  was  banished  altogether,  and  under  the  mis 
tress'  skill  the  house  presently  bloomed  with  the  last  of 
the  year's  blossoms,  and  glowed  with  autumn  leaves,  and 
breathed  with  the  subtile  perfumes  she  loved.  She  was 
too  nervous  to  sit  still,  blew  imaginary  dust  out  of  bureau- 
drawers,  rehung  pictures,  tipped  over  vases,  and  twitched 
the  window  curtains ;  then  descending  to  the  library, 
practised  the  Anvil  Chorus  on  the  grand  piano,  in  a  style 
peculiarly  adapted  to  wrench  Francis  Haythorne's  feelings. 

"  I  guess  they're  all  dead,"  said  he,  pathetically. 

"  Who  ?  "  asked  Peace,  getting  up,  and  coming  over  to 
the  low  grate-fire,  where  the  gentleman  sat  reading  and 
smoking. 

"  I  thought  you  were  doing  it  purposely,  the  devils,  of 
course,  scrunching  their  bones." 

Peace  was  going  to  be  horrified,  when  she  glanced  into 
the  book  in  his  hand,  and  mustering  German  enough  to 
read  M.  M.  Grimm  on  the  cover,  settled  herself  to  hear 
the  story.  Francis  Haythorne  loved  to  take  time,  and 
work  up  a  charming  narration,  and  Peace  was  in  no  wise 
averse  to  listen.  But  in  the  excitement — the  kissings 
and  caressings — of  Mollie's  arrival,  tale  and  teller  were 
destined  to  be  alike  foi'gotten. 

The  Top  Town  people  were  hardly  prepared  for  the  new 
comer's  wasted  appearance. 

"  Thin  as  a  last  year's  mosquito,"  Miss  Petingil  averred, 
when  she  fitted  her  dresses,  and  so  weak  Mrs.  McCross 
was  very  glad  to  send  her  out  of  her  sight  for  a  month 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  333 

or  two.  Not  that  she  doubted  the  righteousness  of  her 
actions,  but  her  daughter's  pale  face  was  a  disagreeable 
object  to  her  everyday  vision. 

Mollie  sank  into  her  friend's  arms  restfully.  Poor 
child  !  she  was  glad  enough  to  escape  the  wear  and  worry 
of  Millville,  and  breathed  more  freely  the  instant  she  left 
it  behind.  She  was  come  to  that  place  when  everything 
seemed  fading  out  of  her  grasp  ;  when  all  was  gray  in  the 
fog  of  uncertainty  and  physical  languor,  and  far-off  fears 
loomed  high,  and  near  objects  were  indistinct. 

Peace,  who  had  been  on.  a  breezy,  mirthful  journey 
through  the  Catskills  that  summer,  and  come  home  fresh 
and  strong  for  a  long  winter's  work,  with  hearty  resolves 
and  rebellions,  and  hopeful  outlooks,  addressed  herself  to 
petting  and  spoiling  with  her  usual  energy.  Her  atten 
tions  seemed  to  Mollie  equally  delicious  and  unfitting. 
To  busy  people,  who  have  been  all  their  lives  comforting 
others,  these  loving  offices  have  a  curious  sense  of  novelty, 
just  as  if  one  were  wearing  one's  friend's  familiar  overcoat 
for  the  first  time. 

Never  were  a  more  oddly  assoi'ted  company  brought 
together  than  now  comprised  the  Pelican  household. 
Charley  Pelican,  full  of  his  gymnastic  feats,  and  always 
keeping  his  mother  in  terror  lest  he  should  take  a  fancy 
to  balance  the  parlor- tables  on  the  end  of  his  nose ; 
Francis  Haythorne,  musician,  connoisseur  in  painting, 
German  student,  always  busy,  never  producing  a  practical 
result  at  anything ;  Peace,  struggling  with  her  old  unrest, 
and  maturing  thoughts  by  and  by  to  take  shape  in  definite 
resolve ;  Mollie,  weary  and  spent  in  her  life  battle ;  Mr. 
Pelican,  deep  as  ever  in  orphan  asylums  ;  his  wife,  always 
wavering  between  her  terror  of  the  omnipotent  Grundy, 
and  her  benevolence;  and  Deacon  McCross,  active  in 
pursuit  of  knowledge  during  his  short  fortnight's  vacation. 


334  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Mr.  Abimelecli  Pelican  seized  on  the  inquiring  old 
gentleman  at  once,  and  showed  him  every  charitable 
institution  in  the  place,  inducing  him  to  make  speeches 
to  the  inmates,  the  first  of  which,  according  to  Charley, 
ran  thus : 

"  Dear  children,  I'm  extremely  glad  to  have  you  here. 
It  always  makes  me  happy  to  see  so  many  little  folks 
gathered  at  a  festival  [it  was  a  festival].  I  hope  you — I 
hope," — here  the  worthy  orator  scratched  his  head  for  a 
thought,  which  didn't  come,  and  then  exclaimed,  wildly, 
"  I  hope  none  of  these  dear  little  boys  throw  stones,  and 
above  all  be  sure  and  not  make  yourselves  sick  eating  ice 
cream  and  candy." 

Charley,  too,  had  taken  a  violent  fancy  to  the  good 
Deacon,  and  showed  him  where  the  railroad-princes 
raced,  and  where  the  speculating  saints  talked  up  "  cor 
ners,"  and  coaxed  him  up  to  house-tops  in  elevators,  and 
into  basements  to  see  low  life,  with  the  greatest  zest ; 
though  the  squeamish  fear  of  mud,  the  rubbers  and  red 
muffler  his  charge  invariably  wore,  and  the  tones  of 
cheerful  inquiry  in  which  he  was  wont  to  suggest  the 
price  of  everything  he  saw,  rendered  the  reason  of  his 
young  guide's  enjoyment  a  little  doubtful. 

The  Deacon,  free  from  Miranda's  restraining  eye,  was 
bent  on  taking  all  possibilities  of  liberty  ;  and  one  night 
Mollie  found  him  listening  eagerly  to  a  vivid  description 
of  monte  as  played  at  Coney  Island,  which  Charley  ex 
plained  and  illustrated,  not  without  dexterity  on  his  own 
part. 

*'  Dew  tell !  "  said  the  old  man  in  his  mild,  high-keyed 
accents ;  "  how  dreadful  smart,  and  they  change  the 
marked  card  quick  as  a  wink  !  I  never  !  I  wish  I  could 
go  once  jest  to  look  on." 

"  Do    you,"    cried"   Charley,    starting    up    delighted. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  335 

"  There's  a  place  in  Top  Town  where  they  play.  I'll  show 
you  ;  but  don't  you  take  your  pocket-book :  you'll  lose  it  if 
you  do." 

Deacon  McCross  gave  an  inquiring  glance  at  Mollie : 
she  was  beaming  approval.  He  therefore  surreptitiously 
abstracted  one  small  bill  from  his  purse  before  handing  it 
over,  and  wiping  his  bald  head,  elevated  his  white  hat, 
took  his  cane,  and  shuffled  off  benignantly, -to  return  in 
high  glee  with  two  greenbacks. 

"  I  tipped  Knox,  who  was  there,  a  wink  to  let  him 
win,"  confessed  Charley  afterward,  "  and  made  it  all  right 
next  day.  Why,  it  was  snab  to  see  him  teetering  up  and 
down  on  his  toes,  hat  in  hand,  beaming  innocently  at 
those  infernal  scoundrels,  and  pocketing  the  plunder  as 
pleased  as  if  they'd  given  him  a  kitten.  I  wouldn't  have 
missed  it  for  a  handful  of  Erie  stock,  you  bet." 

But  Master  Pelican's  adventures  with  poor  Mr.  Mc- 
Cross  were  far  surpassed  by  a  scene  with  Miss  Petingil, 
enjoyed  that  same  week.  The  old  lady,  dressed  in  her 
best,  came  to  town,  partly  to  bring  a  parcel  to  Mollie, 
partly  to  shop ;  and  of  course  invited  herself  to  the  Peli 
cans'  to  tea.  There  she  made  excuses  to  climb  to  the 
garret  of  the  house,  offered  to  descend  on  errands  to  the 
kitchen,  felt  stealthily  of  the  pillow-cases,  and  detected  a 
darn  in  the  dining-room  carpet.  She  also  inquired  of  the 
family  management  in  a  familiar  way  of  the  cook,  kicked 
up  the  hall  mat  to  see  if  there  was  dirt  under  it,  and  rend 
ered  an  unfavorable  verdict  of  poor,  gentle  Mrs.  Pelican. 
"  I  allow  to  say,  if  Almiry  Petingil  hadn't  more  snap  in 
her,  she'd  never  have  grabbed  her  living  out  of  the  lap  of  a 
stingy  world  for  forty  years,"  thought  she. 

Her  recognition  of  Charley  was  a  trifle  grim,  the 
•wrongs  received  in  that  quarter  being  ineffaceable ;  but 
he  bore  himself  with  sorrowful  humility,  and  Absalom 


336  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

could  not  long  be  out  of  favor.  Willing  to  make  good 
his  peace,  he  invited  her  to  Lingard,  and  she  accepted 
at  once.  Notwithstanding  Mollie's  shawl,  and  Peace's 
necktie,  borrowed  for  the  occasion,  and  the  combined  ef 
forts  of  the  young  girls — offered  with  hearty  good-will, — 
from  the  scraggy  cock's  feathers  on  her  bonnet,  to  the 
toe  of  her  congress  gaiter,  she  never  looked  more  lanky, 
stiff,  and  angular,  than  when  she  hooked  her  lean  arm  into 
Charley's,  and  tripped  away  in  a  flutter  of  expectation. 

All  went  well  the  first  half-hour,  though  she  loudly  told 
her  escort  that  it  was  contrary  to  Scripture  for  a  man  to 
put  on  women-folks'  things,  when  the  "  Widow"  appeared. 
She  admired  the  songs,  and  the  Lady-killer  and  after- 
dinner  speech  were  very  favorably  received.  Notwith 
standing  that  she  took  snuff  in  the  pauses,  she  said  the 
morals  inculcated  by  the  sho-w  were  not  to  be  sneezed  at 
nor  condemned. 

Suddenly,  half  a  dozen  dancers  pirouetted  on  to  the 
stage,  their  gauze  skirts  floating,  their  lank  ai-ms  tossed 
high  above  their  painted  faces.  Miss  Petingil  glanced 
at  them  sharply,  to  assure  herself  that  she  beheld  the 
often-heard-of  abomination ;  and  then,  mindful  of  the  un 
sophisticated  youth  in  her  train,  hurried  to  place  her 
•withered  form  before  his  wandeiing  eyes,  and  screeched, 
"  Don't  you  look,  Charley !  don't  you  look !  "  in  tones 
too  piercing  not  to  be  heard  all  over  the  house.  Nor 
would  she  remain  a  second  to  countenance  the  iniquity, 
but  stalked  grimly  from  the  hall,  followed  by  her  de 
lighted  host,  to  whom  she  called,  "  Come  away  this  min 
ute,  Charley  Pelican,"  over  her  shoulder. 

The  family  were  all  gathered  in  the  library  one  even 
ing,  for  their  usual  desultory  following  each  of  his  own 
bent  on  a  common  ground.  They  had  been  indulging  in 
ice-cream  and  sponge-cake.  Mr.  Pelican  highly  disap- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  337 

proved  of  Mollie's  partaking  thereof,  and  had  offered  to 
buy  her  a  pound  of  ten-penny  nails,  as  more  susceptible 
of  digestion.  But  the  repast  was  now  some  time  ended, 
and  she  sat  playing  with  pencil  and  paper,  and  listening 
dreamily  to  Francis  Haythorne,  who  was  amusing  him 
self  at  the  piano,  rendering  dementi's  sixty-first  sonata. 
She  compared  him  inly  with  Louis,  and  supplied  the  well- 
remembered  boyish  figure  in  the  place  of  the  handsome 
Sybarite.  How  different  they  were  !  and  most  different 
at  the  instrument  they  both  loved  !  And  her  miud  flew 
back  to  the  happy  hours  she  had  lived  beside  her  lover, 
watching  his  long,  slender  fingers,  in  a  trance  contoured 
by  the  glorious  melody  of  hope,  sorrow,  courage,  he  set 
trembling  about  them.  Ah  !  Francis  Haythorne  was 
playing  the  andante.  How  perfect  every  note  fell !  a 
cold,  solid  crystal.  He  could  make  his  keys  attune  to 
emotion,  fascinating,  stern,  angry,  coquettish,  always 
sprite-like,  elfin  ;  but  he  had  no  ability  to  render  tender 
ness  :  while  Louis'  touch  gave  the  very  breath  of  modest 
passion ;  sorrow,  warm,  living ;  love,  chaste  and  divine. 
Mollie  might  have  gone  on  comparing  the  two  with  an 
unsatisfactory  pleasure  in  the  broken,  disjointed  pictures 
she  called  uprbut  Mr.  Pelican  rose  from  his  easy-chair, 
and  produced  a  couple  of  decanters.  "  Deacon  McCross," 
said  he,  seductively,  "  here  is  a  chance  to  display  your 
Biblical  knowledge.  This,"  shaking  up  the  smoky  liquid, 
"  is  Esau,  and  this,  Jacob,"  exhibiting  the  paler  fluid. 
"  Esau  is  too  strong  for  me ;  but  you  can  choose  for  your 
self." 

The  Deacon,  who  was  strictly  temperate,  declined ;  but 
Charley  accepted,  and  Francis  Haythorne  disappeared  in 
the  dining-room  with,  him,  leaving  Peace  lowering  as  a 
thunder-cloud.  She  now  affected  a  maternal  surveillance  of 
the  red-haired,  and  regarded  such  doings  as  ravages  of  the 
15 


338  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

wolf  in  the  fold.  "  How  unkind  of  father  !  "  she  cried, 
angrily,  "  when  he  knows  how  I  abhor  this  eternal  tip 
pling.  If  he  must  drink,  why  can't  he  go  by  himself, 
and  not  rush  for  every  young  man  that  comes  within  a 
mile  of  the  house." 

Her  observation  was  quite  loud  enough  to  be  heard, 
and  Charley,  himself  freed  from  petticoat  government 
long  before,  forgot  to  take  his  own  decoction  while  he 
watched  his  companion,  who  didn't  care  to  drink,  and  in 
his  nonchalant  desire  to  please  all,  was  thus  placed  be 
tween  two  disagreeable  alternatives. 

"  Why  don't  those  lazy  servants  bring  the  ice-water  ?  " 
cried  his  father,  jerking  the  bell  violently.  "  They  never 
are  on  hand  when  they're  wanted." 

"  Pooh,  father  !  you  know  that  tintinnabulator  makes 
about  as  much  noise  as  a  lamb's  tail  in  a  felt  hat,"  ob 
served  young  Pelican.  "  You'll  have  to  take  it  plain  ; 
you've  incurred  Peace's  everlasting  displeasure  already. 
She's  a  regular  hippopotamus  vine — bless  me  !  I  mean 
parasite — when  a  fellow  begins  giving  up  to  her,"  he  sug 
gested,  in  his  usual  genial  disregard  of  precise  verbal 
meanings. 

"  In  that  case  I  shan't  tempt  her  wrath,"  answered 
Mr.  Haythorne,  putting  down  the  decanter,  not  because 
he  cared  for  the  young  lady's  feeling,  but  from  innate  op 
position  to  Charley. 

Then  the  two  Pelicans  drained  their  goblets,  and  all 
three  went  back  guiltily  and  sat  down,  fully  conscious  of 
the  combined  feminine  disapprobation. 

<l  You  look  as  if  you'd  buried  your  last  friend,"  re 
marked  Mollie,  mischievously.  "  What's  the  saying  ? — 
'  the  dead  to  bier,  the  living  to  good-cheer.' " 

"  That  is  the  root  of  bitterness ;  none  of  these  dead 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  339 

beats  could  get  any  beer,"  suggested  Charley,  relieved  to 
have  the  silence  broken. 

"  You  ought  to  know  by  this  time  that  beer  is  the 
only  synonym  of  good-cheer  in  their  vocabulary,"  flashed 
Peace. 

"  There  !  children !  "  interfered  Mrs.  Pelican,  from 
over  her  knitting,  bent  on  ameliorating  the  situation. 
"  How  ill-bred  to  wrangle  befox-e  an  invalid !  Here  is 
Mollie,  who  has  inused  all  the  evening,  and  no  one  tried 
to  be  agreeable." 

"  Why  is  Peace's  opinion  like  a  spirit  ?  "  persisted  her 
brother,  resolved  to  have  the  last  word.  "  It's  a  conun 
drum  ;  the  answer  is,  '  Because  it's  immaterial.'  " 

"  Miss  Mollie  does  seem  quite  deeply  engaged,"  said 
Mr.  Haythorne,  politely  taking  up  Mrs.  Pelican's  cue. 
"  Just  watch  her  pencil  hasten  over  the  page  !  It's  a 
shame  for  this  Oberon  and  Titania  to  interrupt  her  with 
their  broils.  Mr.  McCross  and  I  are  making  arrange 
ments  to  prance  into  the  lily-cups  and  hide  ourselves  for 
fear." 

"  I  am  not  so  easily  disturbed,"  replied  she,  laying 
down  her  paper  with  the  true  author-sigh  at  such  emer 
gencies.  "  You  remember  Goethe's  old  soldier  pronoun 
ces  writing  '  only  busy  idleness.'  I  can  comprehend 
the  feeling." 

"  Could  you  ever  understand  poetry  ?  "  said  Mr.  Peli 
can  to  Deacon  McCross,  who  was  looking  over  a  package 
of  Prang's  chromos.  "  Since  I've  been  comparatively 
out  of  business,  I  am  trying  to  learn.  I  used  to  have 
my  wife  select  the  hymns  for  my  lay-sermons,  and  often 
gave  out  the  wrong  set  for  the  service.  My  ear  is  poor, 
and  the  meaning  is  frequently  enveloped,  not  to  say 
smothered.  Now  I  always  take  a  dictionary  and  look  out 
the  words,  but  even  then  I  find  it  eludes  me." 


340  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Deacon  McCross  said  he  never  had  any  difficulty.  He 
•was  very  fond  of  rhymes,  for  his  part. 

Mr.  Pelican's  aldermanic  proportions  expanded  with 
satisfaction.  He  hastened  to  select  a  picture  from  the 
pile.  "  I  was  reading  Rose  Terry's  '  To  an  Arbutus,' 
this  morning,"  said  he.  "  Here's  the  print,  perhaps  you 
can  explain  it.  I  find  it  misty,  very." 

Thereupon,  while  the  two  old  gentlemen  retired  to  a 
corner  of  the  table  and  began  a  critical  study  of  the  text, 
Charley  embraced  his  chance  to  collapse  his  mother's  air- 
pillow.  Of  course  the  good  lady's  head  went  down 
with  a  plump ;  and  her  daughter  was  horrified  to  hear 
her  snore  audibly.  "  It's  improper  in  public,"  said  she, 
and  woke  her  up  without  delay.  Peace  was  Grundy- 
ridden  also,  in  streaks. 

To  all  appearance  the  students  were  successful.  "  I 
comprehend  it  so  far,"  said  Mr.  Pelican  stretching  out 
his  black-silk-stockinged  legs,  and  looking  fatter  than 
ever,  with  the  poetry  in  his  hands,  and  a  business-like 
glance  bent  through  his  glasses  at  the  lean  Deacon. 
"  Do  you  ?  " 

Mr.  McCross  nodded. 

"  But  the  next  line  is  difficult,"  continued  Mr.  Peli 
can,  ponderously.  "  '  Tinged  with  color  faintly  like  a 
morning  cloud,' — what  can  that  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  what  it  says,"  remarked  the  Deacon ;  "  didn't 
you  ever  see  a  cloud  ?  " 

"  That's  too  easy !  "  said  Mr.  Pelican,  "  and  clouds  are 
dissimilar.  We'll  have  to  take  the  dictionary.  Tinged 
— that  means  stained  in  a  diluted  dye ;  clouds — water ; 
diluted.  Ah!  With  color;  that's  right  so  far ;  faintly — 
that  corresponds ;  morning — why  morning  cloud  ?  There's 
the  trouble !  If  it  was  mourning  now,  being  black, 
one  could  get  at  it  j  or  if  she'd  said  "  purple  " — mourn- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  341 

ing  is  purple  too ;  but  morning !  Mr.  Pelican  took 
refuge  in  his  chromo.  After  a  little  careful  study  a  light 
broke  on  him,  and  he  exclaimed  in  a  voice  of  perfect  con 
tent  :  "  I  have  it,  McCross  :  it's  a  kind  of  a  pink." 

Peace  chuckled  audibly.  "  I  began  a  poem  awhile 
ago,  father,"  said  she.  "  Don't  you  want  to  hear  the  first 
verse  ? 

* '  The  day  it  blows, 
And  blows  and  snows, 
And  the  frost  it  grows, 
Under  the  window  pane." 

"  This  is  the  second  stanza,"  cut  in  Charley  : — 

"  The  day  it  blowed, 
And  blowed  and  snowed, 
And  the  frost  it  growed, 
Under  the  window-pane." 

"  And  here's  the  third,"  said  Mollie,  laughing  : — 

"  The  day  it  blew, 
And  blew  and  snew, 
And  the  frost  it  grew, 
Under  the  window-pane." 

"  It  has  all  the  dignity  of  an  epic." 

"  I  can  understand  you  so  far,  daughter,"  remarked 
Mr.  Pelican  thoughtfully  ;  "  what  comes  next  ?  " 

"That's  all,"  said  Peace;  "I'm  going  to  call  it  <Le 
Jour,  a  Crystalline  Incrustation  of  the  Sybiline  Leaves.' " 

"  I  don't  think  modern  poetry  at  all  equals  that  of  my 
youth,"  averred  Mr.  McCross,  who  had  been  plunged  in 
meditation.  "  I  remember  a  favorite  hymn  I  learned 
once  on  my  mother's  birth-day,  worth  all  I  meet  nowa 
days  lumped." 

"  Do  repeat  it,"  urged  Peace,  brimming  with  mischief. 


342  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  It'll  be  good  for  Mr.  Haythorne ;  and  besides,  I'm  so 
much  interested  in  old-fashioned  psalmody !  I've  had 
one  rendering  much  on  my  mind  of  late,  and  every  day 
say: — 

"  Come,  my  beloved,  up  and  get; 

Don  your  blue  breeches  and  sailor  hat ; 

Pluck  up  your  heart,  and  take  a  row 

Over  the  lake  for  your  little  go. " 

Francis  Haythorue  looked  solemn  disapproval  at  this 
nautico-collegiate  travesty ;  but  Deacon  McCross  wore 
a  bewildered  air,  as  memory  felt  feebly  for  the  lost  linea 
ments  of  its  life-time  friend,  beneath  the  horrid  mask. 
He  presently  concluded  it  was  all  right,  and  rejoined 
with  an  old  man's  pleasure  in  her  sparkling  face  :  "  Cer 
tainly,  my  dear  ;  I'll  do  so  with  pleasure.  We  sing  it  to 
'  Mear.'  The  precentor  always  repeated  it  two  lines  at 
once : — 

*'  Give  ear  to  me  what  time  I  call,  * 
To  answer  me  make  haste, 
Like  very  dust  my  heart  is  dried, 
My  bones  like  smoke  do  waste. 

My  flesh  within  me  smitten  is, 
And  it  is  withered 
Like  very  grass,  so  that  I  do 
Forget  to  eat  my  bread. 

By  reason  of  my  groaning  voice 
My  bones  cleave  to  my  skin ; 
Like  pelican  in  wilderness, 
Forsaken  I  have  been. 

I  like  an  owl  in  desert  am, 
That  nightly  there  doth  moan  ; 
I  watch,  and  like  a  sparrow  am 
On  the  house-top  alone." 

*  Old  translation  of  Psalms. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  343 

The  company  had  all  been  very  quiet  while  the  old 
gentleman,  who  had  pushed  his  spectacles  up  on  his  fore 
head,  and  shut  his  eyes,  recited  these  verses  in  a  slightly 
quavering  voice.  When  he  pulled  down  his  visual  aids 
and  beamed  mildly  around,  the  applause  was  loud :  and 
Peace  culminated  five  minutes'  manoeuvres  by  snatching 
the  coveted  writing  from  Mollie's  lap.  "  Here  is  differ 
ent  theology,  I  know,"  she  cried,  waving  it  above  her 
head  in  triumph.  (Peace  could  do  such  difficult  bits  of 
play  with  perfect  grace  and  piquancy.)  "  You  needn't 
blush,  Mollie ;  it's  worth  appropriating  as  common  pro 
perty,  and  I  have  possession,  and  make  it  over  to  the 
company.  Listen : 

"  Of  all  emotions  of  the  human  heart — 
Pride,  hate,  remorse  or  gratified  desire — 
Nature  responds  in  harmony  to  none, 
Except  the  pure  simplicity  of  love. 
Go  lay  thy  heart  to  hers,  thou  peevish  child ; 
And  if  the  world,  true  to  its  falsity, 
Has  played  thee  false,  ask  of  her  salves 
For  disappointed  hopes. 

She'll  flout 

Thee  to  thy  face  :  but  come  with  love, 
And  not  a  rock,  or  brook,  or  blade  of  grass, 
But  seems  a  type  framed  justly  for  thy  souL 
Peace  !  calm  thy  weak  complainings  !  she  does  well. 
There  comes  a  time  when  all  shall  pass  away 
But  love. 

God  made  her  like  Himself,  and  in  the  fret 
Of  narrow  human  life  we  lose  the  key 
She  only  keeps  in  tune. 
Herein  is  presage  of  the  things  to  come. 
If  nature  answers  to  the  voice  of  love, 
And  will  not  hear  to  any  other  call 
(God  setting  thus  His  face  in  every  flower) ; 
And  we  alone  are  out  of  heart  with  both 
(For  all  the  instincts  of  God's  being  meet 


344  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

In  one  great  throbbing  heart,  whose  name  is  love) ; 
When  love  doth  make  us  one  in  soul  with  God — 
Then  stars,  and  winds,  and  flames,  and  pain  itself, 
Shall  be  but  as  harmonious  strings  to  one  great  harp,— 
And  we  its  players." 

""Do  you  believe  it  ? "  said  Francis  Haythorne,  ey 
ing  its  author  with  an  odd  mixture  of  dissent  and  tickled 
intellect. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mollie,  simply.  She  was  not  anxious  to 
elaborate  her  statement.  Theological  ideals  seemed  to 
her  like  shattered  bell-glass  nowadays — brilliant,  pris 
matic,  transparent,  but  broken  bits  after  all,  of  what  was 
once  a  boasted  protection.  She  dared  not  affirm  the 
truth  that  helped  her  in  living,  to  be  the  great  bell-glass 
whose  protection  should  foster  to  complete  growth  the 
universal  human  cucumber. 

"  But  where  did  you  find  it  out  ?  "  persisted  the  stu 
dent. 

"  Where  you  didn't,"  interfered  Peace.  "  In  the 
sweat  of  her  brow." 

"  Daughter,"  remarked  Mr.  Pelican,  laying  down  the 
pencilled  word  she  had  taken  from  her  hand  for  thought 
ful  survey,  "  I  know  Mollie  won't  care  for  my  saying 
it — it's  my  opinion  that  your  poetiy  was  the  best ;  one 
could  understand  it  in  half  the  time." 

"  Here  are  some  lines  less  difficult  of  comprehension," 
answered  the  thief,  starting  up,  and  laying  a  red-lettered 
bill  before  him. 

"  Why,  what's  this,  Peace  ?  Forty  dollars  for  eight 
— no,  sixteen  quires  of  trash  !  You're  enough  to  ruin 
Croasus.  I  won't  endure  it." 

"  Black  and  gilt  is  the  most  elegant  style  I've  tried  for 
an  age.  I  bought  it  more  to  support  the  credit  of  the 
family  than  anything  else !  "  quoth  Peace,  superbly. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  3-15 

"  It's  really  ill-bred  to  write  on  plain  paper  nowadays. 
I  thought  of  getting  up  the  family  arms.  You  know  the 
shield  bears  a  wivern  gules  rampant,  quartered  with 
three  swans  argent  on  sable ;  and  the  crest  is  a  wivern 
gules  rampant  upon  a  wreath,  with  a  dog  in  its  claws — 
Motto,  '  Mare  et  marte  faventibus.' " 

"  Nothing  but  a  race  of  thieves  and  pirates  after  all," 
suggested  Mollie,  smiling.  Now,  my  family  are  going  to 
have  a  turkey,  rampant,  with  an  angle-worm  in  its  beak, 
when  we  quarter — Motto,  '  Who  grubs,  eats.'  " 

"  Father,  I  am  as  economical  as  possible,"  coaxed 
Peace,  "  I  curtail  my  expenditures  to  a  bare  pittance  ;  " 
while  Mr.  McCross  asked  Francis  Haythorne  why  he 
didn't  spread  upon  his  pedigree. 

"  My  ancestry  and  connections  are  just  such  as  lead 
me  to  hear  with  pleasure  of  my  friend's,"  replied  the  red- 
haired,  smiling  slightly. 

"  Humph !  "  said  the  good  Deacon,  feeling  that  he 
ought  to  be  satisfied. 

"  Well,  well !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Pelican,  overpowered  by 
his  daughter's  eloquence.  "  I  feel  your  economy  to  the 
bottom  of  my  pocket.  Things  have  changed  since  my  day. 
Your  mother  and  I  wrote  on  blue  fool's-cap  with  blue  ink, 
folded  our  letters  without  envelopes,  and  sealed  them  with 
red  wafers.  We  were  glad  enough  to  get  them  at  that." 

Peace  gave  an  irate  sniff  at  the  Sybarite,  who  was  re 
peating,  in  a  tone  specially  directed  to  her  ear,  a  certain 
poem,  beginning,  (( Little  I  ask ;  my  wants  are  few." 

"Speak  louder!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Pelican,  his  poetic 
instincts  instantly  alive,  as  he  caught  the  young  man's 
musical,  but  slightly  German  intonation.  "  Good !  good ! 
I  like  that.  Heavy  silks  are  never  dear.  Mrs.  Pelican, 
here's  reason  and  sentiment  combined ;  no  figured  spring 
cheats  for  him  !  " 
15* 


346  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

His  wife  looked  up  pleasantly  beneath  her  shining  gray 
curls.  She  was,  we  know,  that  kind  of  sweet  which  cul 
tivates  placidity  as  the  great  virtue.  Peace  did  not  share 
in  the  matter-of-course  smile  that  went  around  the  party  ; 
she  was  gloomily  chewing  up  the  original  root  of  bitter 
ness.  Her  father,  whose  paternal  admonition  had  been  a 
matter  of  general  application,  as  he  intended  it,  and  who 
never  refused  her  anything  in  his  life,  began  to  rally  her. 
"  My  little  Quakeress  here  never  had  a  monogram,  I'll 
wager,"  cried  he,  pinching  Mollie's  pale  cheek.  "  On 
my  word,  it's  right  down  skinflint,  for  you,  Miss  Spend 
thrift,  to  revel  in  these  vanities.  You  ought  to  have  one, 
too,  my  dear,  and  you  shall.  Peace,  be  sure  she  goes 
to  order  it  to-morrow.  Take  advice,  and  have  it  fine. 
Haythorne,  here,  is  one  of  those  lily-fingered  chaps,  with 
nothing  to  do ;  get  him  to  go." 

Mr.  Haythorne  had  been  assaulted  so  frequently  in 
this  spot,  that  he  began  to  be  galled,  and  bit  his  lip — a 
habit  he  had  when  annoyed.  But  his  customary  gallan 
try  conquered.  "  Anything  for  Peace,"  said  he,  easily. 
That  young  lady  did  not  reciprocate,  being  in  the  mood 
when  every  touch  came  amiss,  was  vexed  that  he  was 
open  to  her  father's  broad  hit,  and  said  to  herself  that 
his  company  would  be  detestable ;  so  she  replied,  rudely, 
"Then  take  Thomas  a  Kempis'  advice  on  the  subject: 
*  But  of  the  words  or  deeds  of  others  judge  nothing 
rashly,  neither  do  thou  entangle  thyself  with  things  not 
entrusted  to  thee ;  thus  it  may  come  to  pass  that  thou 
niayest  be  little  or  seldom  disturbed,' — exactly  your  no 
tion  of  happiness." 

Peace  had  frequent  recourse  to  the  old-fashioned 
moralist,  for  pui-poses  of  self-mortification ;  but  she  had 
no  right  to  seize  the  weapon  to  jab  at  him,  and  she  knew 
it. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  347 

"  You  do  me  but  j  ustice,  most  puissant  mentor,"  re 
turned  he,  bowing  calmly : 

"  Far  from  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife 

My  sober  wishes  ever  learned  to  stray  ; 
Along  the  cool,  sequestered  vale  of  life, 
I  keep  the  noiseless  tenor  of  my  way." 

"That's  plain,"  said  Mr.  Pelican,  taking  the  browned 
meerschaum  from  his  mouth  to  smile  at  his  daughter's 
discomfiture.  "  I  can  understand  that,  if  it  does  rhyme. 
You  mean  that  Peace  may  look  elsewhere  for  a  beau, 
down-town,  to-morrow;  and  I  think  you're  right,  my 
boy."  Whereupon  he  attempted  to  insert  the  bowl  of 
his  almost  dead  pipe  in  his  mouth,  by  mistake ;  and 
Charley  merited  the  Sybarite's  disgust,  by  flying  Mm  in 
the  air  with  one  hand  by  a  grasp  on  the  bottom  round 
of  his  chair,  and  then  deftly  emptying  him  out  upon  the 
sofa,  while  Peace  sailed  off  scornful  and  lofty. 

Next  day,  true  to  his  word,  the  generous  Top  Towner 
sent  the  two  girls  off  in  his  dashing  sleigh,  gay  with  white- 
bear  and  seal-skin  robes,  and  drawn  by  coal-black  mus 
tangs,  to  try  the  first  snow  of  the  season,  and  select  the 
dainty  toy. 

Mollie  looked  very  shyly  at  the  well  got-up  individual, 
who  descanted  on  styles  of  coloring,  script,  old  English, 
and  fancy  capitals,  in  a  way  that  dignified  the  matter  into 
first-rate  importance. 

"  Why  not  illuminate  it  ?  "  cried  he,  his  face  glowing 
with  enthusiasm.  "  We  frequently  do  such  work.  See 
these  samples." 

Peace,  who  had  heretofore  waved  down  all  suggestions 
in  her  stateliest  style,  now  assented  with  benignant  grav 
ity.  She  abhorred  familiarity  with  clerks. 

The  radiant  enthusiast  forthwith  produced  a  sheet  of 


348  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

French  designs,  and  skilfully  sketched  the  monogram, 
with  an  air.  "  This,"  said  he,  in  persuasive  accents, 
"  shall  be  gold  ;  _this  lake,  or  deep  green  ;  this —  " 

"  There  is  no  proper  flower  here,"  interrupted  Miss 
Pelican,  with  infinite  decision.  Those  pansies  might  do 
for  Chris.  In  fact,  I  think  I  saw  something  of  the  kind 
on  her  writing  table.  If  Louis  or  Francis  Haythorne 
were  only  near  to  consult.  There  he  is  now !  "  she  cried, 
suddenly. 

Mollie  started  up  with  a  gasp,  and  caught  at  the  table 
to  steady  herself.  "  Francis  Haythorne,  I  mean,"  con 
tinued  Peace,  hastening  toward  the  door  to  wave  her 
glove  at  the  coveted  swain,  with  as  much  speed  as  was 
compatible  with  dignity,  and  a  slight  sweep  of  silk  petti 
coat.  She  returned  in  a  moment  with  her  captive,  who 
held  three  red-backed  volumes,  labelled,  "  Proceedings  of 
Boston  Medical  Society,"  "  Lancet,"  and  "  Medical  Ap 
plication  of  Anaesthetics,"  with  a  conscious  blush.  She 
hadn't  time  to  review  his  tell-tale  burden,  but  explained 
the  case  with  impetuous  rapidity.  "  We  are  at  our  wits' 
end,"  said  she,  earnestly. 

"  Happy  thought !  "  he  returned,  laying  down  his  books 
with  their  backs  away  from  her,  and  folding  his  delicate 
hands  with  thankful  devotion  :  "  I  hope  I  appreciate  the 
goods  the  gods  vouchsafe.  Indeed,  Miss  Mollie,  I  can 
not  well  choose  a  flower  for  you.  I  only  know  it  should 
be  sweet  and  modest ;  some  such  blossom  as  Bernard  im 
agined  near  the  celestial  river : 

"  Vpon  whose  bankes  the  sugar  growes, 
Enclosed  in  reedes  of  sinamon." 

"  And  martyrdom  hath  roses,  and  fair  and  virgin 
lilies  for  virgin  souls  are  found,"  said  Peace  in  her  heart, 
as  she  scanned  the  trembling  frame  of  her  friend,  still  un- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  349 

hinged  by  her  sudden  shock.  Peace  felt  a  sort  of  com 
passionate  admiring  pity  for  this  love-absorbed  life. 
"  Poor  thing !  "  was  her  invariable  comment.  "  I 
couldn't  be  so  noble." 

But  outwardly  she  began  a  rapid  consultation  with 
the  clerk,  which  ended  in  his  taking  down  an  elaborate 
colored  book  of  flowers ;  and  pointing  to  a  plate  of  ex 
quisite  pale  blue  clustering  blossoms. 

"  Forget-me-nots,  the  darlings,"  cried  Peace  with 
ardor  j  "  why  didn't  I  think  of  it  before  ?  " 

And  while  more  sketching  in  and  attitudinizing  ensued, 
on  the  part  of  the  sanguine  clerk,  and  much  comment 
and  consultation  between  Peace  and  Mr.  Haythorne, 
my  dear  Mollie  sat  dreaming  with  the  volume  in  her 
lap,  heedless  of  the  others,  gathering  again  the  tangled 
threads  of  thought  that  held  in  their  knotted  meshes  the 
well-remembered  patient  flower. 

And  by  and  by,  when  Peace  came  to  take  the  book 
gently  away,  and  bring  her  back  to  life  and  misery  again, 
it  was  all  settled  about  the  monogram. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

"  When  the  pie  was  opened 
The  birds  began  to  sing." 

RED  GROWING'S    call  on   Mollie  had  been 
made  in  January,  and  he  proposed  to  let  few 
days  pass  over  his  head  before  the  promised 
visit  to  Louis. 

15ut    Camiadasset  was  a    busy  parish,  and  four  little 
Growings  educated  under  his  own  eye  were  great  con- 


350  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

surners  of  time.  In  the  spring,  too,  his  wife  sickened 
and  died ;  and  Ernest  Laprise,  his  old  college  friend, 
joined  households  with  him.  All  this  involved  toil  and 
thought,  the  more  lengthened  because  done  in  heaviness 
and  sorrow.  So  it  grew  to  be  August  before  he  found 
himself  walking  up  the  gravelled  path  that  led  to  the 
Top  Town  Penitentiary.  He  went  slowly  and  thought 
fully,  his  open,  impulsive,  friendly  countenance  de 
cidedly  clouded,  in  view  of  impending  difficulties.  He 
was  not  too  solid  a  man  to  be  up  and  down  between 
heaven  and  hell  with  sympathy ;  he  was  too  true  and 
earnest  to  forget  the  crime  in  the  criminal  a  priori ; 
he  was  a  natural  lover  of  men,  and  disinterested  withal, 
and  a  fine-grained  student,  if  we  would  complete  his 
synthesis.  He  found  himself  in  a  specially  hard  case. 
He  had  comforted  widows  and  orphans  in  affliction ; 
heard  dreary  tales  of  woe  and  wickedness  from  bearded 
lips,  and  sent  the  tellers  away  with  better  heart  and  pur 
pose.  He  had  led  little  dimpled  feet  along  the  path  of 
Christian  experience,  and  held  out  blessed  hands  to  those 
fainting  in  the  toils  of  life.  But  to-day  he  was  to  meet 
one  of  his  own  acquaintance — one  of  his  first  flock,  in 
this  saddest  of  all  sad  places.  Being  a  man,  he  reflected 
that  if  this  youth  had  paid  regular  attendance  to  the 
preached  word,  instead  of  roaming  all  Sunday  among  fra 
grant  meadows,  and  dim  liymn-in toning  woods,  he  might 
have  kept  out  of  the  merited  suffering.  Being  a  priest 
of  the  most  lovely  Jesus,  he  could  not  forget  that  he  also 
cared  to-  wander  in  Nature's  spicy  thickets,  and  look 
through  her  eyes  to  his  Master's  face.  l(  God  can  certainly 
teach  himself  through  His  own  handiwork  as  well  as  I 
show  Him  forth  in  mine,"  said  he  to  injured  pride;  and 
sweet  charity  having  the  better,  entered  the  guard-room, 
heart  and  face  full  of  the  Saviour's  errand. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  351 

The  officials  were  polite,  with  a  sort  of  grim,  tobaccoy 
politeness.  They  were  willing  to  show  him  Mr.  Allwood's 
cell ;  but  he  could  see  him  where  he  was.  Was  he,  Mr. 
Growing,  a  dominie?  Nobody  but  sweethearts  and  wives 
and  such  ever  came  to  visit  the  men.  Then  they  laughed 
as  if  it  was  a  joke,  and  one  of  them  went  out  of  doors, 
and  up  to  the  work-rooms,  administering  a  kick  and  a 
curse  to  a  big  white  prowling  bull-dog  on  the  way. 

Meantime  the  reverend  gentleman  looked  about  him. 
There  stood  a  case  of  guns  at  one  end  the  long  room ; 
and  two  horrible  pictures  of  darkeys,  framed  in  old-fash 
ioned,  flat  moulding,  hung  on  the  other  side ;  in  the  mid 
dle  of  the  floor  stood  a  disgustingly  filthy  stove,  with  a 
bench  behind  it. 

It  seemed  that  other  visitors  were  there  on  kindly 
errands  ;  a  pair  of  contrasting  groups  occupied  the  farther 
windows.  A  tone,  a  lady  richly  dressed,  with  a  refined, 
suffering  face,  stood  beside  a  stalwart  man  in  prison  uni 
form.  Hanging  frightened  among  his  mother's  skirts, 
their  chubby  two  years'  boy  resisted  his  father's  clumsy 
efforts  at  conciliation.  "  Jessie,"  the  listener  heard  the 
man  say,  his  deep  voice  quivering  with  emotion,  "  can 
this  be  our  child  ?  " 

"  An'  Christie,"  screamed  a  voice,  remarkable  alike  for 
good  feeling  and  brogue,  from  the  second  window  ;  "  do 
ye  iver  see  a  priest  ?  " 

"No,  Mrs.  Dennis,"  quoth  the  stripling,  whose  boy 
ish  cheeks  were  equally  wrinkled  by  pain  and  vice ;  "  no, 
indade ;  sure  the  likes  of  a  priest  niver  comes  here." 

The  good  woman  spread  the  folds  of  her  gorgeous  red 
calico  dress,  and  bestowed  a  glance  of  mingled  suspicion 
and  cunning  on  the  complacently  listening  officials. 
"  Here,  Christie,  take  the  chicken  an'  apples,"  she  cried, 
shrilly ;  "  I'll  be  bound  they  don't  give  you  no  thin'  fit 


352  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  eat ; "  then  in  a  stage  whisper,  "  An'  lad,  I'd  see  a  priest 
if  the  devil  himself  stood  in  the  doorway." 

Presently  the  man  brought  in  Louis,  who  sat  down, 
sullen  and  haggard,  near  the  stove,  scarcely  recognizing 
his  visitor. 

Mr.  Growing  might  well  be  shocked  at  his  appearance. 
He  had  come  to  administer  comfort,  but  what  comfort 
was  there  for  this  man  who,  crouching  before  him,  seemed 
less  a  human  being  than  a  wild  animal,  wounded  and 
surly,  crept  away  to  die. 

Even  the  good-natured  Irishwoman  was  struck  by  it. 
" Poor  craythur,  is  he  in  for  life?  "  whispered  she.  Her 
companion  nodded  abstractedly.  "  Belike,  thin,  he'll 
never  live  his  sentence  out,"  was  her  compassionate  re 
joinder. 

The  minister  watching  his  friend's  face,  saw  by  the  sly 
satisfaction  playing  over  it  that  the  comment  had  been 
heard. 

"  Poor  boy  !  poor  boy  !  "  said  he  to  himself;  "  has  it 
come  to  this  ?  " 

Yes,  it  had  come  to  that.  Mollie  would  hardly  have 
known  her  lover.  He  was  too  miserable  to  try  to  recog 
nize  himself. 

Mr.  Growing  gathered  his  resources  hastily,  as  he  took 
a  seat  on  the  narrow  bench.  His  task  was  more  difficult, 
more  momentous  than  he  had  anticipated.  He  hazarded 
a  commonplace. 

"  You  didn't  expect  me." 

Louis  on  his  side  wished  he  would  leave.  What  was 
the  use  of  prolonging  the  agony. 

"  I  don't  see  why  any  one  should  come  here  who  can 
keep  away,"  said  he,  without  troubling  himself  to  look 
up. 

"Nor  I   either,"   retorted   the    visitor.     "I  couldn't 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  353 

keep  away,  that  was  the  matter.  Why,  every  time  I  put 
the  four  little  Growings  to  bed  at  night,  and  taught  them 
to  remember  the  fatherless,  and  those  desolate  and  op 
pressed,  I  thought  what  a  hypocrite  I  was,  when  you 
were  shut  up  here  and  I  hadn't  fulfilled  my  promise  to 
go  and  see  you.  I  promised  Miss  Mollie,  you  know ;  " 
watching  the  man,  he  saw  him  tremble  at  the  familiar 
name. 

But  the  morose  answer  was  unyielding :  "  I  have  no 
claim  on  anybody.  Thieves  don't  have.  The  woman 
spoke  the  truth — I'll  soon  be  dead  and  out  of  everybody's 
way.  The  sooner  the  better." 

"Why,  dear  boy,"  said  Fred,  impulsively,  his  tones 
thrilling  and  pleading  out  of  his  earnest  longing  to  help, 
"  you  talk  as  if  God  wasn't  with  a  fellow  everywhere, 
especially  when  he's  in  trouble." 

"  I  mean,  it ;  "  savagely.  u  God  never  came  here  ;  he 
don't  know  anything  about  Top  Town  States  Prison 
(lingering  over  the  words  to  suck  the  last  dregs  of  bitter 
ness  from  them) ;  "  he  lives  down  at  Millville  Congrega 
tional  Church,  with  them  that  fare  daintily,  and  go  in  soft 
raiment." 

The  vulgar  officials,  listening,  grinned  at  each  other 
and  spat  enjoyingly  on  the  floor,  and  leaned  about  the 
room  on  doors  and  wall,  with  their  hands  stuffed  into 
their  breeches'  pockets,  and  their  hats  cocked  on  one  side. 

"  Miss  McCross  has  been  sick — nearly  dying  all  sum 
mer,"  said  Mr.  Growing,  softly.  "  I  saw  her  before  she 
was  taken  ill,  and  she  sent  you  this,"  bringing  a  stout 
brown  paper  parcel  from  under  his  arm.  t(  She  said  per 
haps  you  wouldn't  mind  my  coming.  I  was  only  a  man, 
and  a  friend,"  stammered  the  kind-hearted  gentleman, 
ready  to  cry  with  sympathy. 

The  convict  turned  toward  him  with  studied  delibera- 


354  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

tion.  He  said  afterward  it  seemed  as  if  the  old  soul 
muscles,  once  so  elastic,  were  too  stiff  to  move ;  his  only 
motions,  physical  or  mental,  had  so  long  been  only  such 
as  shoe-making  demanded,  he  feared  to  try  any  others. 

"  She  is  better ;  is  coming  to  visit  the  Pelicans,  when 
she  is  strong  enough  to  travel.  Haven't  you  heard  ? 
She's  been  delirious  till  within  a  week." 

Louis  didn't  make  any  answer ;  he  sat  quite  still. 
Mr.  Growing's  pity  couldn't  comprehend  this  persistent 
sullenness.  He  surveyed  the  young  man  closely,  noticed 
the  drawn  bluish  look  at  the  corners  of  his  mouth,  and 
his  glassy  unseeing  eyes  sprang  forward  to  raise  him  from 
the  floor,  senseless. 

"  He  went  pretty  easy,"  said  the  guard,  jumping  off 
his  high  stool,  and  looking  at  him  critically.  "  I  heard 
the  overseer  in  his  room  say  he  was  falling  off  in  his 
work,  and  I  see  he  didn't  take  nothing  to  eat  to  his  cell. 
Likely  he's  putting  him  through." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  he's  had  no  food  to  live  on  since 
early  this  morning  ?  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Growing,  thoroughly 
shocked. 

"  Oh,  that's  nothing ;  there's  always  four  or  five  docked 
every  day.  It's  no  account." 

"  My  friend  looks  very  ill,"  the  sympathetic  minister 
suggested  to  the  warden,  as  he  took  his  leave.  "  I'm 
afraid  he  won't  live  long." 

"  He'll  get  through  his  work  a  while  yet,"  quoth  that 
functionary.  "  He  may  need  a  little  pushing.  He  don't 
stand  very  well,  we'll  have  to -give  him  something  to  sit 
on  before  long." 

Mollie's  gift  was  like  herself  and  her  love — a  dozen 
gorgeous  butterflies  in  a  glass-case.  If  she  had  sought 
the  world  over,  she  could  not  have  offered  a  more  con 
vincing  message  of  her  faith.  Passion  or  instinct  indeed 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  355 

give  the  warp  of  love,  but  its  woof  is  altogether  made  of 
tender  memories,  and  every  frail  insect  brought  Louis  its 
own  recollection  of  happy  days.  There  was  the  deceiving 
May-fly  he  had  incited  Mollie  to  catch,  with  cunning 
fables  about  its  golden  eyes.  She  worked  a  necktie 
covered  with  silken  May-flys  for  him,  by  way  of  a  coal 
of  fire.  Here  was  the  great  Cecropia  they  had  fed 
together ;  and  here  the  tailed  Luna  and  pink  winged  lo, 
snared  in  the  net  with  the  contracting  mouth,  his  own 
invention.  Way  down  in  a  corner,  too,  was  the  shadowy 
Ajax  he  brought  her  one  happy  April  morning  when  she 
kept  birth-day  in  the  house,  with  a  sprained  wrist,  and  so 
couldn't  possibly  help  his  putting  his  arm  around  her. 
Only  one  Ajax,  though,  and  he  gave  her  a  pair. 

With  the  butterflies  full  of  old-time  memories,  Mollie 
sent  him  back  the  rights  and  claims  of  his  free  life,  and 
he  dared  to  take  them  to  himself,  because  they  came  from 
her.  A  woman  points  her  rejected  lover  to  God,  but  she 
prefers  to  have  the  man  she  loves  think  of  herself.  If 
Mollie  had  stopped  to  remember  this,  she  would  have 
altered  the  gift  for  conscience'  sake.  But  God,  being  Him 
self  the  author  of  love,  didn't  let  her.  Having  thus 
regained  self-acknowledgment  of  his  title  to  manhood, 
Louis  found  another  help  in  the  insects.  They  led  him 
forth  into  the  outside  world.  Every  night  at  close  of 
work,  he  used  to  seat  himself  with  his  treasure  in  his  lap, 
and  begin  his  travels  in  a  minute  examination  of  the 
beauties,  when,  lo  !  the  plumy  wings  were  buckled  on  his 
own  shoulders,  each  bright  eyeball  of  the  Sphinx  once 
more  glowed  luminous,  to  light  him  onward ;  and  the 
Ajax  paraded  his  scarlet  beauty  spots,  and  yellow  Troilus 
wandered  after  a  falser  Cressid ;  Prometheus,  in  sable  man 
tle  arid  golden  fringes,  consoled  his  woes  with  blue-eyed 
lo ;  and  chaste  Luna  smiled  and  gigantic  Polyphemus 


356  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

strutted  in  the  foreground  of  the  fetterless  world  of 
fancy,  memory  and  longing,  of  which  they  were  the 
guardian  spirits. 

He  hadn't  held  his  new  possession  a  week  before  the 
bitterness  unconsciously  melted  out  of  his  soul,  Mollie's 
image  nestling  there  unchallenged,  and  playing  the  sweet 
exorcist  to  his  ghoulish  broodings.  His  mind,  no  longer 
shut  into  the  poisonous  prison  atmosphere,  sought  means 
of  healthful  action.  He  picked  up  the  only  book  in  his 
cell — a  Bible,  and  began  to  look  for  verses  about  butter 
flies. 

What  is  religion  ?  Who  is  God  ?  have  been  the 
world's  questions  since  the  day  it  was  first  peopled. 

There  is  a  difference  between  the  Christian  revelation 
of  religion,  and  Christianity.  Our  churches  are  full  of 
religious  men  but  possess  few  Christians.  Strip  off  half 
a  dozen  empty  dogmas,  and  most  disciples  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  do  not  differ  materially  in  theory  or  practice 
from  those  of  Confucius,  Epicurus,  Zoroaster,  Moses  or 
Mahomet.  All  say  their  prayers,  all  go  to  worship,  all 
talk  morality  and  violate  it,  all  profess  to  love  their  wives 
and  children.  Creusa  follows  her  dear  Eneas  through 
smoking  Troy.  Isis  is  a  model  spouse  to  Osiris. 
Madame  Bazaine  steals  her  husband  away  from  prison. 
Berengaria,  from  her  husband's  wound, 

"  — draws  forth  the  poison  with  her  balmy  breath 
Sweet  as  new  buds  in  spring." 

And  the  wife  of  murdered  Maximilian  pays  her  tribute  to 
her  lord  in  a  broken  heart. 

They  all  see  visions,  too  ;  and  the  good  priest  sacrific 
ing  his  hecatombs  of  cattle  and  provender  was  nearly  as 
touching  a  spectacle  of  faith  as  Ezekiel  wedding  his 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  357 

good-natured,  but  not  spotless  wife — as  he  relates,  at  the 
command  of  Jehovah.  What  is  the  difference  ? 

Christianity  demands  love,  real  human  love,  to  the 
human  chosen — the  type  of  God.  It  is  sufficient  for 
religion  to  fear  God  and  keep  His  commandments. 

But  those  called  by  His  name,  recognizing  the  love- 
bond  between  the  earthly  disciple  and  the  glorified  Leader, 
cannot,  it  seems,  agree  in  "  points." 

There  is  a  sect  with  a  litany  so  perfectly  satisfying  all 
wants,  that  other  prayer  seems  needless  ;  and  so  worship, 
religion,  companionship  with  Jehovah  or  His  chosen,  have 
resolved  themselves,  among  a  majority  of  its  adherents, 
into  the  morning  and  evening  service ;  and  they  cannot 
understand  how  the  schismatic  sects  say  "  Elder  Brother," 
"  Sweet  Saviour,"  "  Truest  Friend,"  because  the  Prayer 
Book  has  it  Almighty  and  Everlasting  Father.  They 
talk  of  humanity's  resolution  into  the  parent  essence  of 
God,  as  a  drop  of  water  falls  into  the  sea.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  quite  as  respectable  a  body  fail  to  compre 
hend  how  churches  can  exist  without  the  tea  meeting, 
the  jocular  pew  auction,  or  the  tear-moving  excitements 
of  missionary  Sunday,  and  believe  implicitly  that  the 
original  devil  taught  dancing  school. 

In  order  to  find  the  true  essence  of  Christianity,  we 
must  cut  away  from  every  sect  the  peculiarity  which  is 
its  greatest  pride.  Lop  from  the  Catholic  the  pope,  the 
real  presence,  confession,  the  saints ;  lop  from  the  Pres 
byterian  the  saving  grace  of  belief  in  dogma,  and  the 
delightful  anticipation  of  seeing  four-fifths  of  his  imme 
diate  neighbors  and  the  entire  remainder  of  the  world 
damned ;  lop  from  the  Baptist  his  cistern,  the  Episcopa 
lian  his  genealogies  and  prayer-book,  the  Universalist  his 
speculations  in  Psychology,  the  Methodist  his  pride  of 
Plebeianism,  class-meeting,  and  the  power,  and  keep  the 


358  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

one  common  division  of  them  all — for  that  is  Christianity, 
and  that  only,  be  the  residue  healthy  and  good,  or  its 
reverse. 

I  have  always  observed  two  classes  of  sceptics — reform 
ers  and  doubters.  The  reformers  are  animated  by  im 
patience  of  moral  restrictions,  and  go  forth  of  their  own 
free-will ;  but  the  doubters  are  pushed  out.  Compelled, 
in  their  desire  to  explore  their  King's  Palace,  to  pry 
away  certain  cracked  and  mossy  stones  at  what  they  sup 
pose  the  basis  of  the  structure,  so  startled  are  they  by 
the  downfall  of  mouldy  rubbish,  that  they  fly  terrified, 
never  dreaming  that  it  is  one  of  time's  old  hostelries  they 
meddled  with,  and  not  the  God's  temple  at  all. 

Louis  belonged  to  this  latter  class.  Except  the  diffu 
sive  benevolence  of  the  liquor-seller  and  the  "  Perfect" 
theology,  he  had  scant  ideals  of  Christianity  in  any  shape. 
Dr.  Perfect  said  it  was  blaspheming  God  to  throw  a 
die  ;  and  even  good  Mr.  Growing,  in  a  religious  fog  com 
mon  to  certain  stages  of  the  ministerial  career,  had  been 
heard  to  declare  from  the  pulpit,  that  Christ's  abstruse 
and  mysterious  utterances  were  not  equal  to  the  reforma 
tion  of  mankind ;  only  through  the  lucid  explanations 
of  Paul  could  they  be  properly  understood  and  system 
atized  into  the  Gospel  of  Salvation. 

I  have  in  mind  three  or  four  reasons  why  duty-loving 
people  find  it  hard  to  embrace  Christianity  :  the  narrow- 
mindedness,  religious  egotism,  and  personal  inconsistencies 
of  its  professed  votaries  ;  the  vast  number  of  cant  expres 
sions  which  make  the  language  of  one  sect  perfectly 
unintelligible  to  members  of  another,  and  more  obscure 
than  heathen  Greek  to  the  unconverted ;  the  constant 
preaching  of  dogma  instead  of  religion,  and  religion  again 
and  under  the  name  of  Christianity  ;  the  constant  cry  to 
give  up  a  vague  all  which  nobody  seems  to  have  done, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  359 

and  catch  if  you  can  an  equally  vague  something  else  in 
its  place  ;  the  ecclesiastical  command  to  be  separate  in 
peculiarity  from  a  world  to  which  the  noisiest  "  Breth 
ren  "  are  evidently  quite  united  in  spirit. 

It  was  a  miserable  truth  which  led  Hawthorne  to  com 
pare  popular  Christianity  to  the  stained  windows  of 
European  churches — from  the  outside,  sombre,  cold,  for 
bidding  ;  but  within,  warm  with  color  and  gorgeous  in 
design.  The  true  church  is  lighted  from  its  centre,  day 
and  night,  for  the  Lamb  is  the  light  of  it ;  and  having 
been  commanded  to  shine,  her  patterned  windows  must 
needs  be  full  of  meaning  to  lookers-on. 

At  the  end  of  the  world,  when  the  Book  of  Life  is 
opened,  it  will  be  seen  to  be  the  roll  of  the  membei's  of 
the  True  Church ;  the  united  voice  of  that  whole  multi 
tude  will  be  found  to  have  bound  and  loosed  matters 
ecclesiastical  and  spiritual ;  Christ  animating  its  members 
will  have  forgiven  the  trespasses  of  its  people  against 
each  other ;  and  the  Christ  who  animates  the  whole  will 
Himself  have  so  forgiven  sin,  that  they  are  beyond  its 
power  forever.  There  can  be  no  schism  in  love  ;  and  if  a 
rent  appear  in  a  theological  robe,  then  it  is  plain  that  it 
is  not  the  robe  of  the  redeemed.  Love  is  the  dress  of 
Christ's  lovers.  When  Mary  McCross  was  asked  how  to 
become  a  Christian,  she  always  replied,  "  Fall  in  love 
with  God," — which  sounds  oddly,  but  is  the  root  of  the 
matter. 

Dear  Mrs.  Pelican,  who  was  an  ardent  Episcopalian,  a 
devout  believer  in  such  adjectives  as  ineffable,  transcend 
ent,  incomprehensible,  illimitable,  uncontainable,  infinite, 
was  painfully  shocked  by  this  way  of  putting  things ; 
told  Mollie  it  wasn't  refined,  besides  being  irreverent; 
told  Peace  it  must  have  arisen  from  association  with  those 
low  people  in  Syllabub. 


360  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  You  speak  of  Christ  as  if  He  was  a  man  in  the  next 
street,"  she  cried,  summoning  her  religious  sternness  to 
the  occasion.  Mrs.  Pelican,  the  most  tirnid  of  gentle 
women,  was  as  stiff  as  a  last  year's  mullen-stalk  in  mat 
ters  of  faith. 

"  He  is  a  man,  not  so  far  off,"  replied  the  young  girl 
composedly.  "  I  regard  him  as  I  might  my  shadow. 
When  the  sun  is  nearest  overhead,  I  and  my  shadow  are 
one.  But  as  we  turn  away  from  that  light,  the  shade 
stretches  off  farther  and  thinner  every  instant.  So  with 
Christ.  Under  the  full  warmth  of  the  Sun  of  Righteous 
ness,  He  is  unit  with  me ;  but  in  the  twilight  of  unbelief 
He  grows  less  and  less  tangible.  Like  my  shadow,  too, 
He  never  quits  my  feet,  and  the  minute  I  approach  the 
light  He  appears." 

"  That's  flowery  and  pretty,"  said  Mrs.  Pelican,  dis 
paragingly.  "  I'll  have  to  tell  mother  about  Mrs.  Den 
nis,"  cut  in  Peace,  illustrating  her  name,  which,  except  in 
theology,  she  seldom  did.  "  She  followed  us  to  the  door 
the  day  we  read  the  Douay  Bible  to  her,  and  she  found 
we  weren't  such  dreadful  heretics  after  all.  '  Well, 
well,'  said  she,  '  sure  we're  all  servin'  the  same  good 
gentleman — I  mean  God.'  " 

Louis  was  a  most  pious  sceptic.  It  was  because  his 
ideas  of  Christianity  were  so  elevated,  that  he  couldn't 
accept  as  divine  the  ponderous  machinery  called  by  its 
name.  He  had  read  a  few  earnest  books,  every  one  set 
hard  on  the  heels  of  religious  folly,  and  concluded 
churches  to  be  equally  humbug  and  hypocrisy.  He  ac 
companied  Mrs.  McCross  to  the  Millville  prayer-meeting, 
to  find  its  members  feeding  off  husky  formalities,  with 
what  he  thought  swinish  delight  and  selfishness.  He 
had  dipped  into  a  little  Colenso,  a  little  Swedenborg,  a 
little  Calvin ;  read  half  a  page  of  Baxter's  Call ;  had 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  361 

never  seen  the  point  to  Pilgrim's  Progress  ;  and  since  the 
structure  of  doctrines  seemed  to  him  like  a  card-house 
that  a  breath  of  doubt  dissipates,  concluded  he  was  au 
infidel.  Mrs.  McCross  fully  agreed.  Millville  substi 
tuted  the  opprobrious  title  of  atheist,  and  washed  her 
hands  of  him.  Thus  left  to  himself,  he  perused  Heine 
in  the  original,  admired  Goethe,  tried  to  like  Roussean, 
flaunted  his  unbeliefs  in  every  one's  face,  because  they 
were  like  fire  in  his  bones ;  and  he  had  an  idea  that  he 
was  somehow  disgraced  by  them,  and  was  too  proud  to 
sail  under  false  pretences. 

When  I  started  on  this  digression,  he  was  reading  the 
prison  Bible,  and  falling  in  love,  as  lovers  will,  quite  una 
wares.  Like  most  young  men  he  had  left  it  out  of  his 
Library  of  Useful  Information  in  days  of  freedom,  and 
for  all  his  dreary  studies  of  late,  knew  very  little  about 
it.  Now,  in  this  flood  of  joy,  he  was  astonished  to  find 
what  a  delicious  mingling  it  is  of  the  human  and  divine. 
Its  kinship  with  mother-earth  was  delightful  to  him — 
"  like  two  roes  that  are  twins,"  he  said,  being  pure  enough 
in  heart  and  experience  to  see  the  chaste  beauty  of  that 
song  of  marriage.  He  likewise  read  ecclesiastes  with  a 
shudder  at  its  horrible  pictures ;  sighed  with  David,  and 
revelled  in  Isaiah ;  forgave  the  fairy  stories  for  the  facts ; 
and  travelling  on  day  by  day,  met  a  friend  who  had  been 
long  time  awaiting  him  very  patiently. 

We  do  not  give  our  hearts  to  the  Christus  Regnant, 
but  Jesus,  sad,  rejected.  We  shrink  from  the  martial 
prince  whose  right  hand  has  taught  him  terrible  things, 
who  enters  the  city  with  his  triumph  of  slaves,  and  cap 
tives,  and  spoil.  Honors,  which  it  is  confessed  only 
bruise  the  weary  heart  of  their  bearer,  are  no  medicine 
whose  beholding  cures.  Our  chosen  is  he  who  steals  slyly 
and  delicately  through  the  door  we  are  too  miserable  to 
10 


362  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

try  to  bar,  and  in  his  pure  brotherhood  of  grief  teaches 
us  to  bear  our  own.  It  was  Christ's  tenderness  and  sim 
plicity  and  reposeful  strength,  his  intense  naturalness  of 
perfection,  that  won  Louis.  He  could  not  let  His  history 
alone,  dreamed  of  Him  while  at  his  work-bench,  lay  con 
tented  on  his  prisoner's  pallet  while  he  mused  about  Him  ; 
pictured  His  journeys,  threading  the  olive-groves,  vine 
yards  and  hamlets  of  far-away  Palestine  ;  exulted  in  His 
simple  fondness  for  flowers  and  birds ;  loved  Him  because 
He  healed  and  comforted,  and  suffered  willingly,  and  was 
satisfied  with  the  rough  adoration  of  a  few  coarse  fisher 
men,  rejecting  the  world's  praises  because  He  loved  it,  not 
them. 

To  Louis,  unjustly  condemned,  the  judgment-seat  of 
Pilate  was  a  frightfully  vivid  reality.  Stripes,  hunger, 
abuse,  are  tangible  things  to  the  prisoner.  Himself  the 
unwilling  partaker,  he  knew  the  pain  borne  by  Jesus, 
the  voluntary  sufferer.  Not  yet  convinced  of  His  di 
vinity,  the  Nazarene  became  his  hero.  Little  by  little 
dawned  on  him  the  great  purpose  for  which  this  man 
lived ;  the  strange  scheme  by  which,  out  of  his  own  agony, 
he  would  distill  healing,  save  every  man  by  taking  abode 
with  him  in  the  midst  of  his  well-deserved  wretchedness, 
conquer  his  visible  Lordship  by  giving  it  up,  prove  his 
ownership  of  all  men's  hearts  by  breaking  his  own  to 
mend  them,  deny  to  his  comfort  exercise  of  the  very  gifts 
he  never  refused  to  the  most  revolting  suppliant,  out  of 
the  niggardly  gratitude  of  men  build  a  kingdom  whose 
only  end  would  be  to  obtain  their  happiness. 

In  such  a  hero,  who  can  point  the  difference  from  a 
god? 

It  was  impossible  for  Louis  to  love  any  one  without 
longing  to  share  his  burdens,  enter  into  his  life.  The 
more  he  tried  the  homely  rules  of  action  set  down  by  the 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  363 

carpenter's  Son,  the  more  he  knew  of  their  results  upon 
the  disciple,  and  through  him  upon  his  fellows  ;  tho 
more  deeply  he  felt  that  to  pattern  after  his  Master 
would  as  surely  entail  his  Master's  fate.  The  degenerate 
maxims  of  trade,  politics,  or  popular  religion  have  noth 
ing  in  common  with  Christ's  ideas. 

"  No,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  to  go  after  him  would  be 
to  leave  all."  "  Many,"  says  old  a  Kempis,  "  are  willing 
to  follow  Jesus  to  the  breaking  of  bread,  few  to  the  drink 
ing  of  the  cup  of  his  passion." 

The  battle  waxed  strong  with  Louis.  He  was  aston 
ished  at  his  own  cowardice,  and  yet  he  could  not  shake 
himself  free  from  himself.  "I  have  a  right  to  my  own 
life,"  said  one  nature. 

"  So  had  he,"  said  the  other. 

"  He  was  the  son  of  a  kind  God,"  objected  the  first 
Adam. 

"  He  called  himself  the  son  of  ungrateful  man,"  re 
torted  the  second. 

"  He  wanted  to  suffer,  and  I  don't,"  cried  the  first. 

"  Are  you  going  to  accept  from  any  man  what  you 
won't  do  for  him?  "  cried  the  second. 

"  No,  no,  no  !  "  said  Louis  in  a  great  hurry.  "  I 
hope  I'm  not  mean  enough  to  sneak.  Besides,  I  want  to 
help." 

Then  the  sad-eyed  man  smiled  right  into  his  heart,  such 
a  thankful,  satisfied  smile,  that  his  champion  saw  every 
thing  a  thousand-fold  given  back  in  its  wondrous  peace 
and  brightness.  And  this  smile  floating  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  heart  Louis  had  emptied  of  all,  lay  warm 
and  sure  beneath  the  burdens,  hopes,  and  loves  he  piled 
above  it  in  after  life,  and  permeated  them  and  the  man 
himself  so  thoroughly,  that  its  own  beauty  and  sweetness 
became,  their  beauty  and  sweetness,  and  its  strength  was 


364  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

the  man's  strength,  and  its  trust  his  trust ;  and  as  time 
went  on,  it  wrote  itself  all  over  his  face  and  life,  so  that 
God  saw  in  it  himself,  and  his  friends  saw  God. 

Now,  being  thus  far  along  his  journey,  a  misfortune 
befell  him.  The  peg  whereon  hung  his  precious  butter 
flies  had  long  been  something  unsteady  ;  one  evil  morn 
ing  it  completed  its  treachery  and  gave  way ;  the  pretty 
insects  lay  upon  the  floor,  a  confused  heap  of  broken 
wings. 

The  overseer's  humor  was  villanous.  A  few  years  af 
ter,  his  men  rose,  felled  him  with  a  bench,  and  then  sat 
quietly  down  to  await  their  fate.  To-day  he  was  prepar 
ing. 

"  What  are  them  things  layin'  there  for, — you  ?  "  he 
demanded,  seeing  Louis'  start  of  dismay  at  the  cruel 
havoc.  "  Heave  that  ere  trash  out, — breedin'  vermin 
an'  lice.  What  are  you  waitin'  for  ?  I'll  give  you  some 
thing  to  hurry  about,  if  you  ain't  sharp." 

A  look  of  irrepressible  misery  came  over  the  prisoner's 
face,  as  he  exclaimed  beseechingly  :  "  Can't  I  have  those 
that  are  whole  ?  Indeed  they  aren't  all  spoiled.  Don't 
make  me  throw  them  away." 

"You'd  better  not  give  me  any  of  your  jaw,"  said  the 
superior,  stirring  up  the  mass  with  his  heavy  boot.  "  Be 
lively  !  I'm  in  a  hurry." 

Louis  swept  them  out  with  trembling  hand,  and  ven 
tured  to  pick  up  two  green  dandies  from  the  wreck  of  his 
only  treasure.  "  What  have  you  got  there  ?  "  demanded 
his  jailer,  enraged.  "  Didn't  I  tell  you  to  heave  all  them 
things  out  ?  Sassy  rascal !  put  them  on  the  floor." 

The  convict  drew  the  coveted  beauties  from  his  pocket 
and  laid  them  lovingly  on  the  staging ;  then  threw  back 
his  head,  a  great  lump  in  his  throat  only  kept  down  by  a 
mighty  effort. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  3G5 

"  Now  you  put  your  foot  on  them  damn  beetles,  and 
think  yourself  lucky  to  get  off  without  bein'  reported  for 
disobeyin'  me  this  way.  Impudent  dog !  " 

And  with  that  the  "  prisoner's  friend  "  went  to  eat  a 
vast  dinner,  with  unruffled  conscience,  and  the  befriended 
threw  himself  down  in  a  boyish  heap,  to  mourn  his  irrep 
arable  loss.  But  the  poor  flutterers  had  done  their  work. 
Their  master  was  not  left  empty. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

"  Thy  life  to  mend 
God's  law  attend." 

HAT  old  fellow  at  the  house  opposite  looks  ex 
actly  like  a  grasshopper,"  said  Peace,  glancing 
malevolently   from    the   window   at   the   rainy 
prospect. 

The  only  other  person  in  the  room  made  no  reply,  and 
the  steady  rattle  of  the  leaves  in  her  hand  seemed  to  ag 
gravate  the  unoccupied  fault-finder.  "  There  goes  old 
Gizzard  next  door,"  pursued  she ;  "  always  makes  me 
think  of  a  mud  turtle  on  his  hind  legs.  Mary  McCross, 
I  can't  remember  any  habit  more  disagreeable  than  con 
tinually  read — read — reading,  when  one's  friends  are 
cross.  I  invited  you  here  to  console  me." 

"  '  How  can  your  griefs  expect  comfort 
From  him  who  knows  not  how 
He  can  redress  his  own  ?  "' 

said  Mollie,  smiling,  but  not  giving  up  her  occupation. 


SCO  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"If  you  had  your  choice,  what  would  you  take  to  in 
sure  your  life-long  happiness?"  asked  Peace,  abandoning 
her  -pet  and  her  window  together,  and  drawing  a  low 
ottoman  to  Mollie's  chair.  "I've  been  trying  to  make 
up  my  mind  all  the  afternoon,  and  it  spoilb  my  temper 
because  I  can't." 

Her  friend's  eyes  sought  the  bundle  of  yellow  notes  in 
her  lap,  superscribed  in  a  childish  hand.  They  were  very 
few,  remnants  of  Louis'  attentions  in  their  school-days, 
when  he  hid  one  each  morning  in  her  dinner-basket,  be 
cause  she  confided  to  him,  in  the  innocence  of  her  heart, 
that  she  wanted  what  the  other  scholars  had, — girls,  whose 
beaux  wrote  billet-doux  and  smuggled  them  over  the 
attic  defend  u  regularly. 

She  read  them  every  week  now.  It  was  cold  consola 
tion,  but  the  best  she  found.  Absently  smoothing  their 
confining  bit  of  ribbon,  she  paused  awhile  to  deliberate, 
and  then  said  quietly,  "I  think,  next  to  having  the 
one  I  love  best  close  by  me,  I  could  be  happiest  if  there 
were  some  boys  who  liked  to  come  and  see  me  and  tell 
me  their  troubles." 

"  Pooh  !  "  said  Peace,  giving  a  decided  head-toss ;  "  I 
don't  agree  a  bit.  It's  either  ambition  or  a  husband  I 
want ;  but  I  won't  be  bothered  with  either." 

"  I  believe  in  ambition  for  everybody,"  said  Mollie,  in 
a  solid  emphasis  grown  habitual  to  her,  in  her  argument 
ative  battles ;  "  but,"  she  added  brightly,  "  the  way  to 
manage  about  a  husband  is  to  walk  through  life  as  one 
would  through  a  field  of  burdocks.  Before  you  reach  to 
the  other  side,  the  stick  tight  is  sure  to  get  caught  in  your 
train." 

"  But  suppose  it  isn't  the  right  one,"  said  Peace,  intent, 
and  pouting ;  "  Men  are  such  poor  animals.  There's 
Charley.  How  miserable  the  woman  will  be  that  gets 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  367 

him  !  I'm  sick  of  living  this  way — in  transitu — for 
years  at  a  time!  Nothing  before,  no  end  in  life,  no 
place  in  the  world.  Always  headed  off  when  I  want  to 
work." 

Miss  McCross  didn't  answer.  She  hadn't  solved  her 
own  problems  enough  to  be  able  to  cope  with  other 
people's. 

Peace  was  in  her  most  winning  mood  this  afternoon  ; 
not  in  the  sense  of  yielding ;  but  betraying  an  inimitable 
simplicity  that  underlay  her  whole  character,  and  peeped 
out  rarely,  even  with  her  trusted  friends.  "  Do  you 
know,"  said  she,  bestowing  her  honest  confidence,  "  I'm 
miserable ;  I  had  to  make  some  verses  about  it.  If  you 
won't  laugh,  I'll  read  them."  Whereupon  she  drew  the 
same  from  her  pocket,  and  spread  them  on  Mollie's  knee 
for  mutual  consideration. 

"What  the  temptation  to  this  weary  world 
That  led  us  of  our  will  to  take  it  up, 
Is  matter  for  reflection.     But  once  here 
Our  only  end  in  living's  plain  enough :  — 
Just  to  fill  life  with  cares,  and  so  force  down 
Into  the  lowest  deep  of  consciousness 
Ourselves. 

And  here  we  stay,  because  the  world  is  quit 
In  emptiness  and  silence ;  and,  self  at  back, 
We  hate  to  try  the  trackless  waste  beyond, 
For  fear  of  murder." 

Peace  was  all  intensity,  vehemence,  storm,  as  she 
finished  indicating  the  words  to  Mollie,  with  voice  and 
finger,  while  the  reader  followed  them  with  her  own  ear 
nest  eyes.  "  I  feel  it  more  and  more !  "  cried  the  author, 
springing  up  impetuously,  when  she  observed  an  uncon 
trollable  smile  cross  the  face  of  her  sympathetic  friend, 
and  following  her  glance,  observed  Charley,  who  had 


SG8  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

squirmed  his  way  thither  unobserved,  under  cover  of 
chairs  and  tables,  and  was  now  reposing  at  full  length 
beneath  the  nearest  sofa,  with  a  wicked  grin  on  his  face. 

"  That  sounds  cheerful :  I  condole  with  you,"  cried  he, 
emerging  from  his  shelter,  in  a  kind  of  elephantine  walk 
on  all  fcmrs,  done  with  unbent  knees,  and  equally  difficult 
and  ridiculous. 

The  girls  experienced  a  disagreeable  shock,  such  as  one 
always  has  in  discovering  a  long  conversation  overheard  ; 
and,  after  a  rapid  mental  reduction,  blushed  with  annoy 
ance  and  vexation. 

"  Burrs  !  wives  !  happiness  !  and  poetry  !  "  proceeded 
the  young  man,  counting  on  his  fingers ;  "  yes,  absolutely, 
poetry ! 

"  '  When  dearth  of  sense  and  rhyme  you  see, 
Come  make  a  poem  out  of  me.' " 

"  Te  he !  te  he  !  te  he  !  "  chimed  Mollie. 

"  O  give  to  me  a  cup  of  tea,"  tagged  Charley. 

"  I'll  think  of  it  at  night,  D.  V.,"  said  Mollie. 

"  O  Charley,  what  a—" 

"  Tease  you  be,"  interrupted  the  torment,  as  his  sister, 
who  was  getting  very  angry,  began  an  adjuration  by  no 
means  flattering,  to  judge  by  the  stamp  accenting  its  be 
ginning  ;  and  Mollie  snatched  the  unfortunate  verses  just 
jn  time  to  save  them  from  utter  destruction.  After  a 
few  interfering  plunges  and  dives  from  Peace,  well 
warded  off  by  Charley,  she  found  it  needful  to  rvin  away 
to  her  own  room,  and  lock  herself  in,  trophy  and  all.  In 
a  minute  more,  the  voice  of  the  abused  author  followed 
her  through  the  keyhole :  "  Well !  Mary  McCross,  it 
isn't  often  you  can  resist  the  devil  when  it  '11  flee  from 
you." 

The  Deacon  stayed  only  a  few  days,  but,  as  he  told 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  3GO 

Mollie  at  parting,  they  were  the  most  comfortable  of  his 
life.  The  two  were  very  happy  together — went  to 
prayer-meetings,  orphan  asylums,  hospitals,  poor-houses, 
public  schools,  insane  retreats,  newspaper  offices,  and  in 
surance  buildings,  with  amiable  impartiality.  She, 
modest,  timid,  and  clinging  to  his  arm ;  he,  tall,  gaimt, 
benevolent,  and  in.  search  of  wisdom,  with  a  white  stove 
pipe  on  his  head,  red  yarn  muffler  about  his  neck,  rubbers 
on  his  feet,  an  umbrella,  and  a  memorandum  book  to  set 
down  the  items,  which  should  develop  in  course  of  their 
wanderings. 

"  We  might  just  as  well  see  the  police  court  too,"  said 
he  briskly,  after  every  other  spot  of  interest  had  been 
visited;  "  it's  cheap  knowledge,  and  we  must  improve  each 
shining  hour.  I  feel  exactly  like  '  How  doth  the  little 
busy  bee.'  I  find  it  grows  on  me,  too." 

Peace,  who  ruled  the  house  despotically,  had  a  hand  in 
his  simple  satisfaction.  It  was  she  who  drew  forth  his 
rambling,  old-fashioned  stories,  and  she  who  invented 
missionary  statistics  to  charm  his  eager  thirst  for  mental 
acquisition,  and  to  her  complaisant  ear  he  confided  his 
horror  of  the  present  style  of  American  dress,  denounc 
ing  it  as  similar  to  the  enormities  of  rings,  ouches,  crisp- 
ing-pins,  and  round  tires  like  the  moon,  and  recited  with 
sympathy  sundry  ballads  from  Cowper,  relative  to  starved 
goldfinches,  likewise  fables  with  morals  attached ;  and  ' 
the  reward  seemed  to  her  great,  when  he  told  Mollie  in 
confidence  that  he  felt  his  feet  to  have  been  set  in  a  large 
place,  which,  poor  man,  was  quite  necessary — if  they  were 
in  any. 

The  father  and  daughter  stole  about  and  made  little 

donations   to    inconceivably  absurd    charities,  and  were 

patronized    by    rascally    minister   agents ;    and   Charley 

beguiled  them  into  Argentie's,  where  they  presented  each 

16* 


370  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

other  with  studs  and  cuff-buttons,  and  the  Deacon  paid 
the  bill  with  childish  glee.  Finally  they  took  an  ancient 
history  of  Top  Town,  and  hunted  up  all  the  places  notable 
for  Indian  warfare,  or  the  home  of  the  oldest  inhabitant ; 
and  he  donated  an  immense  package  of  French  fruit  to 
Peace,  and,  after  much  thought,  filled  Charley's  bed  with 
a  pile  of  dumb-bells,  clubs,  and  articles  of  gymnastic 
art,  requiring  very  sly  management  to  adjust,  and  at  the 
same  time  preserve  the  important  secrecy,  on  which 
account  Peace  commanded  vacation  of  the  premises  by 
the  household,  and  herself  made  aggravating  little  sallies 
at  the  conspirator,  so  that  he  had  hard  work  to  keep  his 
plot  Tindiscovered. 

That  night  he  sat  in  the  dim  twilight  with  his  arm 
lovingly  about  Mollie's  waist.  He  was  to  return  to  Mill- 
ville  next  morning. 

"  You've  never  been  so  heavenly  dear,  daughter. 
When  I'm  away  from  you,  I  always  think  you  were 
sweetest  the  time  I  saw  you  last,"  said  he  fondly.  "  Poor 
Mollie !  you  have  such  hard  lines." 

"  No — not  too  hard  to  bear,"  said  she,  with  a  stout 
hearted  smile.  Mollie  never  gave  up  before  any  one, 
least  of  all  her  father. 

The  old  man  patted  her  hand  in  a  soft  denial.  "  I 
know  about  it,  dear.  Don't  think  I  don't.  It  will  all  be 
over  some  day.  You  mustn't  come  home  this  winter  " — 
this  with  a  smothered  sigh.  "  You  must  stay  here  and 
grow  strong.  You've  ben  a  good  girl  to  me,  daughter. 
I  feel  sometimes  I  hadn't  orter  ha'  made  you  promise  as 
you  did ;  but  I  don't  believe  it'll  be  for  long — I  hope  not, 
dear." 

"  Don't  say  so,  papa,  my  own  papa.  Louis  and  I 
would  rather  have  you  stay,"  cried  the  girl,  her  heart 
swelling  with  the  two  loves  and  longings. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  371 

"  Mebbe,  niebbe,  dear,"  said  he,  sadly.  "  Pelican  got 
left  on  the  train  yesterday.  My  train  won't  leave  me. 
You  must  gather  up  my  papers  and  look  them  over  when 
I  go,  with  Louis — with  Louis,  mind.  Have  you  written 
to  him  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  must  see  him  before  I  leave  for  home."  A  little 
sigh  escaped  her  as  she  thought  how  long  it  might  be  be 
fore  they  met  again.  She  hoped  he  didn't  hear  it,  and 
hastened  to  cover  it  up  by  saying,  "  I  can  tell  him  so 
much  better.  That  was  my  promise." 

"  He  is  a  good  lad,"  said  the  Deacon,  regretfully. 
"  Let  him  know  I  think  so.  Do  you  remember  how  I 
used  to  hop  like  a  kangaroo  for  you  when  you  were  a 
little  girl  ?  "  after  a  short  silence. 

Mollie  nodded. 

"  And  how  we  used  to  sharpen  noses?  " 

She  nodded  again. 

"  We  might  do  it  once  more  ?  "  suggested  he,  doubt 
fully. 

"  Those  were  good  days,"  he  went  on,  after  the  child 
ish  action  had  been  performed  with  the  accuracy  of  a  re 
ligious  rite.  "  We  have  never  been  so  happy  since. 
Somehow,  I've  given  up  lolting  much  upon  comfort  here, 
any  more.  Life  has  long  seemed  to  me  only  a  journey 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  But  when  we  are  dead  it 
will  be  better.  I  don't  believe  we  shall  have  to  stand 
playing  all  the  while.  Probably  God'll  let  us  kneel  down 
to  pray  between  spells.  We  are  all  to  be  around  the 
throne.  Perhaps,  as  there  must  be  a  vast  crowd  there 
by  this  time,  I  won't  be  able  to  get  near.  But  I  can't 
help  thinking  that  if  I  should  even  be  three  miles  off,  I 
shall  be  in  the  very  midst  of  heaven;  and  if  the  Lord 
will  only  let  me  get  a  few  years  the  start  of  your  mother, 
I  hope  I  can  improve  and  do  so  well  as  to  satisfy  Him." 


372  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Mollie  drew  his  gray  head  down  to  her  shoulder  with 
quick  impulsive  gesture.  "Father,"  said  she  desper 
ately,  ft  I  will  not  let  you  die.  I  don't  mind  about  my 
troubles.  You  shall  be  happy  with  Louis  and  me  some 
day.  We  can  all  wait." 

"  No,"  said  the  old  man,  in  sorrowful  gentleness.  "  I 
have  no  time  to  wait.  It  was  my  blame  that  you  have 
to ;  but  you're  good  children,  and  won't  lay  it  up,  or  any 
thing,  even  when  you  find  out — as  you  partly  know — 
how  bad  it  is.  But  it'll  all  come  right  by  and  by — I 
pray  God  very  soon.  I  want  to  have  it  so,  daughter,  an' 
I  don't  like  to  have  yovi  pray  the  other  way,  for  fear  the 
Lord  might  rather  listen  to  you." 

So  Deacon  McCross  went  home.  He  looked  a  little 
pale  and  weary  when  he  set  off  next  morning,  but  that 
might  be  owing  to  Charley's  having  penetrated  his  room 
about  two  o'clock  at  night,  for  the  pleasure  of  blowing  a 
penny  trumpet  in  his  ear.  "  Well,  well,"  said  he,  coming 
to  at  the  first  hoot,  and  bestowing  a  dazed  but  benevolent 
smile  on  the  young  fellow,  "  you  an'  Peace  do  play  desput 
cunnin'."  A  commendation  which  the  musician  received 
with  extreme  gratification. 

After  her  father's  departure,  Mollie  settled  into  a  quiet 
home-life.  She  studied,  she  visited,  she  darned  stock 
ings  five  German  styles,  to  win  Mrs.  Pelican's  heart. 
Old  Mr.  Pelican,  who  had  of  late  taken  a  strong  fancy 
for  music,  but  possessed  no  ear,  was  charmed  to  find  a 
soprano  willing  to  help  out  his  minstrelsy,  though  it  was 
a  disappointment  to  have  her  object  to  rising  at  half-past 
four  in  the  morning,  that  being  his  time  for  practising  in 
course  the  bass  to  each  tune  in  the  singing-book.  When 
Deacon  McCross  had  been  there,  they  had  held  a  few 
rehearsals  together.  But  Mollie's  father  confided  to  her 
that  friend  Pelican's  only  successful  tune  proved  to  be, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  373 

"  I  was  a  wandering  sheep,"  which  exactly  suited  his 
style. 

They  played  rubbers  of  whist  in  the  long  evenings,  at 
which  Charley  concealed  little  less  than  the  reflation 
twenty-four  packs  in  his  coat-sleeves,  besides  ornament 
ing  the  backs  of  the  cards  with  mysterious  scratches,  and 
his  father  absently  claimed  every  trick  through  the  game 
without  slightest  reference  to  fourth-hand  trumps,  and 
partner's  slaughtered  aces.  Peace  revelled  in  afternoon 
toilettes  and  dainty  fancy-work  to  match ;  and  took 
Mollie  on  elegant  shopping  expeditions,  where  she  met 
other  beautiful  ladies  likewise  attired  with  magnificence. 
She  noticed  on  such  occasions  that  they  all  bought  in  the 
ratio  of  four  cents'  worth  of  worsted  to  forty  in  bonbons, 
that  they  treated  each  other  to  ice-cream,  talked  of  the 
musical  glasses,  and  were  every  one  reading  the  same 
novel ;  that  the  things  each  knew  were  identical,  and  they 
looked  so  precisely  alike  that  she  could  not  tell  them 
apart. 

Mollie's  friendship  for  the  son  of  the  house  was  the 
oddest  product  of  her  visit.  On  her  first  arrival  he  used 
to  sit  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  with  his  chin  propped  on 
his  palm,  watching  her,  a  look  on  his  handsome  face, 
half  observing,  half  dogged  ;  and  she  on  her  side*  avoided 
him  with  morbid  care.  He  was  the  family  sorrow,  and 
the  author  of  Louis'  misfortunes.  Why  should  she  not  ? 

But  she  began  presently  to  pity  him.  From  the  pet, 
he  was  fast  becoming  the  scapegoat  of  the  household. 
Never  in  her  whole  history  had  she  found  a  fellow  life 
in  such  case,  without  espousing  its  cause,  and  deliberating 
with  careful  tact  upon  unnumbered  methods  of  reconciling 
it  with  itself.  She  could  not  help  going  through  that 
course  of  thought,  any  more  than  she  could  help  breath 
ing.  A  deliciously  sorrowful  attraction  drew  her  to  the 


374  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

sufferer.  Ordinarily  shy,  and  reticent  with  strangers, 
she  here  became  animated,  witty,  charming,  in  unplanned 
efforts  to  please.  Utterly  averse  to  formal  society,  she 
would  instinctively  exert  her  powers  to  the  utmost  to  put 
herself  en  rapport  with  one  of  its  outcasts.  It  had  got  to 
be  a  by-word  with  her  friends,  that  Mary  McCross  was 
an  icicle  to  a  nice  person,  a  nabob ;  and  a  Recamier,  a  De 
Stae'l,  a  Little  Dot,  to  a  man  with  a  ticket-of-leave,  a 
woman  who  had  run  away  from  home,  or  an  "  Irisher," 
of  any  rank,  sex,  or  calling. 

Originally  drawn  to  Charley  by  this  inevitable  impulse 
she  soon  became  attached  to  him  for  himself.  With  her, 
he  developed  an  entirely  new  phase  of  character — treated 
her  materially  as  one  would  a  fragile  toy  or  butterfly  ;  and 
spiritually  with  a  humble,  touching  deference,  as  if  she  held 
the  key  to  something  he  valued  in  himself,  and  only  got 
at  through  her.  Mollie  possessed  a  stable,  unobtrusive, 
sweet  dignity,  all  her  own,  that  was  harmonious  with  her 
character ;  though  it  sometimes  repelled,  it  defended  her 
from  the  faults  of  act  or  assaults  of  associates  to  which 
her  complete  forgetfulness  of  herself  in  the  lives  nearest 
would  otherwise  have  constantly  exposed  her.  It  was  this 
which  made  possible  her  numerous  and  warm  friendships 
with  what  Mrs.  Pelican  called  "  out-of-the-way  people  " 
in  a  disparaging  tone  ;  even  enabled  her  to  add  the  pa 
trician  Absalom  to  the  list. 

The  relation  began  on  this  wise  :  He  was  sitting  in  the 
parlor,  in  the  usual  helpless  forlornity  of  the  masculine 
brotherhood,  on  a  rainy  day — nothing  to  plan,  nothing 
to  dream  over,  nothing  to  do  but  struggle  in  the  grip- 
ings  of  Apollyon  blues.  Mollie  found  him  reduced  to 
that  last  refuge  of  vacuity — making  cat's  cradles  by  him 
self.  She  had  some  time  grieved  for  him,  watched  with 
friendly  pain  his  alternate  lapses  from  excitement  and 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  375 

folly  to  bitter,  hopeless  remorse,  arid  back  to  reckless  ill- 
doing  again.  His  acquaintances  were  not  ashamed  or 
averse  to  show  their  contempt  for  him  now;  the  more 
correct  did  not  recognize  him  on  the  street.  She  could 
not  bear  to  have  things  thus  with  Peace's  brother.  This 
afternoon,  very  timid,  but  resolved  to  comfort,  she 
slipped  into  a  seat  in  the  corner  of  the  sofa,  and  when  he 
got  the  thread  all  arranged,  leaned  over  and  took  it 
deftly  on  her  own  hands. 

He  gave  a  guilty  side-look  at  this  self-elected  play 
mate.  She  was  sitting  graceful  and  dignified,  with  re 
laxed  muscles — perfectly  at  ease — the  pink  and  white 
thread  on  her  extended  fingers — her  face  bright  with 
honest  and  kind  intention. 

He  felt  it  a  very  simple  thing  to  take  back  the  string 
in  the  third  position,  and  found  the  mountains  of  misery 
oppressing  his  boy's  heart  diminish  as  he  did  so. 

"  Hadn't  we  better  be  friends  ?  "  said  Mollie,  resuming 
the  first  and  original  cradle  shape,  with  satisfaction. 

"  I  thought  you  hated  me,"  said  the  man,  meekly  hid 
ing  his  shame  face,  in  side-wise  study  of  the  angles  of  the 
carpet. 

"  I  expected  to,  but  you're  so  miserable  I  can't,"  she 
answered,  frank  as  usual.  Charley  looked  up  at  her, 
intending  to  deny  this  imputation  and  assert  his  perfect 
— nay,  brilliant  happiness ;  but  her  glance  was  so  pleas 
ant  and  steady,  and  withal  so  clear,  that  he  gave  in  di 
rectly. 

"  I  may  as  well  own  it  first  as  last,"  confessed  he, 
with  a  free  acting,  impetuous  impxilse,  like  Peace. 
"  I  know  I've  done  the  scurvy  thing  by  Alwood  all 
along,  and  I  wish  from  the  bottom  of  my  soul  I  hadn't. 
The  fact  is,  my  life  has  been  a  horrid  mistake  from  the 
beginning.  His  ways  made  me  feel  it,  though  I  helped 


376  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

to  set  him  as  wrong  as  myself,  and  went  back  on  him 
afterward.  He  never  was  as  bad  as  I  am,"  said  Charley, 
looking  down  with  wholesome  embarrassment.  "  There 
was  something  in  him  below  the  upper  crust  that  wouldn't 
let  him  be.  You  and  he  are  just  alike,  but  somehow  I  feel 
differently  toward  you.  Perhaps  it's  because  you're  ai 
woman."  ' 

Mollie  writhed  from  the  sudden  wrench  at  her  heart 
strings,  and  answered  with  manifest  effort :  "I  don't 
blame  you ;  I  understand  it  all  since  I've  been  here.  I've 
seen  the  Cereus,  and  the  club-house,  and  all  the  spots  he 
used  to  frequent.  I  have  been  putting  myself  in  his 
place.  One  thing  followed  another.  Louis  would  say, 
'  Be  friends,'  if  he  was  with  us ;  "  whereupon  she  held 
out  her  hand,  steady  and  true  as  of  old,  for  all  its  wasted 
flesh  and  big,  throbbing,  blue  veins,  and  they  ratified  the 
compact. 

Deserted  to  each  other's  mercies  that  evening,  they 
spent  it  talking — Mollie  asking  an  occasional  question, 
Charley  relieving  his  mind  by  the  first  chat  he  had  found 
a  decent  companion  for  in  months.  Next  day  they  went 
out  shopping  together,  and  looked  at  pictures  in  Hazel- 
tine's  gallery.  There  was  a  large  room  filled  with  conta- 
diuas  and  marines,  and  daisies  pied  and  ragged  children, 
with  all  kinds  of  straw  baskets,  holding  a  great  many 
varieties  of  very  peculiar  fruit ;  startling,  pale-faced  lo's 
bestowing  tangible  kisses  on  intangible  Jupiters ;  and 
mild  sheep  with  blue  fleece,  overshadowed  by  sky  full  of 
woolly  clouds,  well-curried  oxen,  and  reflective  fish-ponds. 

Beyond,  in  the  holy  of  holies,  were  pages  ;  Venus  j  ust 
arisen  from  the  Cytherean  foam,  in  her  shell  drawn  by 
turtle-doves;  a  couple  of  crucified  Christs  ;  some  creamy- 
necked  Madonnas,  backed  by  gilt  glories,  and  framed  un- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  377 

der  glass.  But  in  one  corner  hung  a  head  of  Jesus  that 
made  Mollie  forget  everything  else. 

The  face  was  oval  and  narrow ;  the  shading  had  long 
since  faded  into  greenish,  the  thin  nose  gave  an  impres 
sion  of  utter  flatness  from  its  lack  of  profile ;  the  hazel 
eyes  were  almost  crossed  in  their  intense,  pleading,  sor 
rowful  gaze ;  and  yet  the  picture  contained  an  indefin 
able  something  that  moved  the  observer  even  to  tears. 
Charley  stood  watching  Mollie,  a  thoroughly  bewildered 
expression  on  his  impulsive  Absalom's  visage,  as  she 
wiped  the  water  from  her  lashes.  The  trouble  so  hope 
less,  and  yet  so  patiently  mastered,  the  hurt  look  of  this 
friend  of  sinners,  made  her  own  woes  yield  an  answering 
throb.  Such  a  look  Christ  must  have  worn  when  He 
searched  the  multitude,  in  the  judgment  hall,  for  one 
familiar,  loving  face,  in  vain. 

"  Do  you  like  it  so  much  ? "  asked  the  young  man, 
astonished.  "  It  is  ugly  and  meek.  I  don't  see  anything 
else  in  it." 

"  No,  perfect,"  said  Mollie,  earnestly.  "  I  wish  it  waa 
mine.  It  is  my  exact  conception  of  Jesus." 

Its  memory  dwelt  in  her  mind  all  that  day,  like  the 
light  of  a  star,  so  steady,  gentle,  quietly  penetrating  the 
darkness.  Not  even  the  afternoon's  next  adventure  dis 
turbed  the  peace  it  brought.  The  evening  lamps  were 
lighted  before  she  quitted  the  gallery,  her  hand  on  Char 
ley's  arm.  Ten  paces  from  the  door,  a  tall,  roughly-clad 
fellow,  with  a  scarlet  silk  handkerchief  about  his  neck^ 
came  up,  and  putting  his  face  almost  under  Mollie's  bon 
net,  wished  her  good-evening. 

Frightened  and  annoyed,  she  clung  closer  to  her  com 
panion,  who,  however,  only  led  her  onward  a  few  steps. 
"  Now  you're  safe,  and  I'll  go  back  and  settle  that,"  said 


378  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

he,  and  coolly  returned,  knocked  the  offender  down,  and, 
his  mind  free,  escorted  her  home  without  more  ado. 

Mollie  was  shocked  at  this  high-handed  chastisement 
of  her  enemy;  but  she  told  Peace  about  it,  and  Peace 
highly  approved,  and  deliberated  upon  his  reward  with 
sisterly  pride — a  resolve  an  hundredfold  strengthened  by 
the  discovery  of  her  friend  in  adoring  contemplation  of 
the  Jesus-head  which  had  found  its  way  to  the  chimney- 
piece  in  her  room.  But  the  stately  caresses  tendered 
Charley  by  his  sister  were  met  with  a  marvellously  ill 
grace.  It  was  the  peculiarity  of  this  pair  that  they  never 
could  meet  one  another  on  common  ground.  Both  had 
moods  of  intense  desire  for  each  other's  sympathy,  but 
neither  had  patience  to  wait  for  his  mate  to  fall  into  his 
own  mood,  or  to  address  himself  to  comprehension  of  his 
present  mental  state.  Mollie  used  inly  to  compare  them 
to  the  pith-ball  illustrations  of  an  electrical  machine, 
which  approach  each  other  but  to  fly  asunder  with  equal 
repulsion. 

Francis  Haythorne  watched  the  friendship  in  progress 
with  anything  but  satisfaction.  He  respected  Mollie,  and 
could  not  understand  how  she  did  right  to  find  any  pleas- 
tire  in  talking,  riding,  and  walking  with  a  man  whom  he 
despised  for  his  irregularities.  At  the  very  best,  she 
was  belittling  his  idea  of  her.  She  ought  to  pick  up  her 
dainty  garments  and  pass  by  on  the  other  side. 

A  man's  notion  of  a  woman  is  always  a  clinging  vine, 
his  favorite  type  of  the  marriage  relation  a  blasted  pine- 
tree,  rejuvenated  and  greened  in  the  mantling  embraces 
of  an  ivy.  He  rejects  the  notion  that  Baucis  and  Phile 
mon  became  an  oak  and  a  linden  whose  interlaced  branches 
formed  one  perfect  shade. 

"Ostendit  ad  hue  Tyaneius  illic 
In  cola  de  gemino  vicinos  corpore  truncos." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  379 

It  is  a  man's  instinct  to  materialize  every  knowledge  ; 
but  a  woman's  to  idealize  every  sensation.  He  learns 
the  world  by  knocks  and  bruises  against  sins  and  sinners, 
and  she,  by  setting  the  tiny  gauge  of  her  own  guilt-pangs 
against  his  faults,  and  having  got  the  measure,  immedi 
ately  enlarging  her  own.  sufferings  to  fit.  A  man  goes 
back  to  his  childhood  as  his  ideal  of  innocence ;  but  a 
woman  is  purified  by  incessant  vicarious  pain  every  day 
of  her  life,  and  regards  her  first  years  with  a  sigh  of  re 
gret,  perhaps,  but  seldom  fond  regret. 

In  this  way  she  knows  all  about  him,  and  he  exactly 
nothing  about  her. 

He  never  understands  the  difference  between  paradise 
and  heaven  for  any  one  but  himself.  When  he  hears  of 
mental  anguish,  he  thinks  of  remorse,  not  the  infinite 
agony  of  pity.  And  because,  poor  blundering  fellow,  he 
loves  the  woman,  he  would  deliberately  take  the  matter 
out  of  God's  hands,  and  lock  her  up  in  the  garden,  quite 
forgetful  that  she  was  the  first  to  taste  of  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil,  and  so  must  always  find  his  paradise 
only  a  fool's  paradise,  which  to  dwell  in  would  be  death. 

How  false  this  idea ! — that  no  better  thing  could  be  said 
of  a  maid  than  that  she  had  never  left  her  mother's  side. 
It  means  that  life's  smallest  and  greatest  temptations  are 
all  before  her,  and  every  one  of  her  weapons  and  defences 
still  untried.  What  worse  thing  can  be  said  of  a  girl 
than  that  her  mother  has  never  dared  to  trust  her  beyond 
sight  ?  In  short,  the  most  subtle  delicacy  is  that  which 
is  its  own  protection  ;  the  truest  woman,  she  whoso  first 
training  in  life  is  to  centre  herself  in  herself,  and  then 
radiate  what  kindness  and  familiarity  she  please  from  the 
circumference  of  the  perfect  circle  drawn  about  her  by 
self-control,  self-knowledge,  and  a  purity  resulting,  not 
from  ignorance  of  evil,  but  patient  cultivation  of  good. 


380  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

The  world  may  be  dangerous  to  the  happiness  of  such  an 
one ;  but  never  to  her  character.  Her  friendship  is  as 
safe  to  herself,  as  invaluable  to  its  object ;  she  makes  it 
a  part  of  her  religion. 

But  Francis  Haythorne  being  a  man  of  larger  theory 
than  experience,  could  not  know  this ;  and  a  fresh  in 
stance  of  Charley's  levity  still  more  contributed  to  his 
disgust. 

No  woman  ever  yet  took  the  slightest  interest  in  an 
unmarried  man,  that  she  didn't  urge  him  to  go  to  church ; 
and  Peace  and  Mollie  oddly  enough  fell  into  this  folly  at 
the  same  time.  For  you  can  sometimes  improve  bin-nt 
cake  by  frosting  and  paring ;  but  an  icing  of  religion  is 
not  leavening  the  lump ;  patience,  kindness,  day  after 
day's  quiet  influence,  and  unconscious  stimulating  by  ex 
ample,  are  the  human  means  to  that  end.  And  neither 
the  Sybarite  nor  Absalom  were  in  any  condition  to  go  to 
worship.  Peace,  however,  rejected  our  theory,  and  held 
that  in  spiritual  things  boiling  goes  down,  not  up ;  and 
set  her  kettle  under  the  stove,  expecting  ebullition. 

The  family  were  assembled  in  the  library  one  Saturday 
night,  when  Miss  Pelican  produced  a  tiny  prayer-book, 
with  covers  quarter  of  an  inch  thick,  clasps,  gold-crossed 
book-mark,  and  rubric,  all  nicely  printed  in  its  pristine 
color.  "  It's  a  philopcena  present  from  Mr.  Haythorne," 
said  she,  "  and  we  are  going  to  church  to-naorrow  to 
christen  it.  I  think  it's  so  nice  to  have  a  church  that 
dates  back  to  the  Twelve  Apostles,  where  one  can  rest  on 
authority,  and  one,  too,  so  eminently  aristocratic." 

Now  this  was  tantamount  to  throwing  a  fire-brand 
among  the  standing  corn,  in  a  family  of  Presbyterians, 
Episcopals,  and  Free-thinkers.  Every  one  set  himself 
firmly  on  his  seat,  prepared  to  maintain  his  cause  or  per 
ish. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  381 

"  I  can't  approve,"  said  her  father,  drawing  up  his 
short,  fat  legs,  and  bracing  for  the  struggle,  "  of  any  re 
ligious  body  that  refuses  to  unite  with  any  other,  for 
Christian  work  or  worship." 

"  But  you  and  Mollie  are  schismatics,"  retorted 
Charley,  devoutly  crossing  himself  to  aggravate  Peace. 
"  All  schism  is  sin.  Why  don't  you  come  over  and  have 
a  bishop  ?  " 

"  Why  don't  I  have  a  monkey  and  a  hand-organ  ?  "  re 
marked  his  sire,  with  disgust. 

"  Because  you've  got  a  poll  parrot  with  a  penny  whis 
tle,"  put  in  Peace,  darting  a  wrathful  look  at  the  incor 
rigible. 

Mr.  Haythorne  hereupon  found  himself  in  another 
scene,  and  began  what  he  supposed,  too  fondly,  to  be  an 
imperceptible  glide  from  one  chair  to  another  toward  the 
door.  Of  course  Mrs.  Pelican  arrested  his  progress,  by 
innocently  inquiring  if  he  didn't  think  written  prayer  far 
superior  to  extemporaneous. 

"  As  near  as  I  can  make  out,"  laughed  Mollie,  ee  Peace 
believes  in  a  basket  let  down  from  heaven  on  a  string  of 
apostles,  and  scoops  up  whom  she  may ;  whereas  her 
father  erects  an  edifice  over  the  pit,  and  hopes  to  ascend 
its  winding  steps  of  doctrine  to  bliss." 

"  I  don't  want  any  chuckle-headed  fellow  to  prejudice  the 
Deity  against  me,  by  his  canting  whines,"  was  his  instant 
reply.  "  My  father  was  cheated  by  a  Presbyterian  dea 
con  once,  and  I  despise  the  whole  brood." 

"  But  you  forget  the  force  of  the  expression,  *  Lead  us 
in  Prayer,'  "  said  Mollie,  reddening  a  little,  for  she  still 
loved  the  forms  of  a  church  whose  received  extreme 
tenets  she  had  long  since  left  behind.  "  The  speaker  is 
the  audible  voice  of  the  congregation.  If  you  do  not 
choose  to  join  what  the  Methodist  brothers  call  the 


382  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Amen  Corner,  you  can  offer  your  own  petitions  mental- 
ly." 

"  I  prefer  the  regular  service,"  answered  Mr.  Hay- 
thorne,  shaking  his  head.  "  It  is  refined,  and  in  abso 
lutely  perfect  English,  and  taste." 

"  At  least  you  like  the  system  of  Church  letters,"  skir 
mished  Mr.  Pelican,  the  normal  state  of  aggression  on  the 
part  of  the  dissenters,  and  stately  scorn  among  the  gene 
alogy  elevated  sect,  being  nicely  preserved  in  these  never- 
ending  squabbles.  "  A  young  man  goes  away  from  home 
— is  a  member  of  the  church — takes  his  certificate — and 
is  thereby  provided  with  companions  and  perhaps  work." 

"  I  don't  think  much  of  letters  of  introduction,"  quoth 
Mr.  Haythorne,  loftily.  The  Sybarite  was  a  sceptic  in 
pleasure  excursions  into  metaphysics,  but  could  not  contra 
dict  his  inborn  love  of  refined,  elegant,  and  a^sthetical  ob 
servances,  if  one  was  to  observe  religiously  at  all.  "  How 
do  you  know  but  designing  persons  might  forge  them  ? 
I  had  plenty  of  recommendations  to  officials  in  Europe, 
but  I  wouldn't  use  one." 

A  burst  of  laughter  greeted  this  word  of  wisdom ;  and 
Peace  turned  to  Mollie,  saying,  "  I  suppose  you  will 
hardly  care  to  attend  the  same  ministration  that  I  do, 
to-morrow.  The  forms  are  scrupulously  carried  out,  and 
I  know  how  you  dislike  ritualism." 

"  Very  true,"  acknowledged  Mollie,  composedly.  "  I  do 
abhor  any  one  that  sets  himself  up  in  piety  on  an  ances 
try,  but  I  bought  a  prayer-book  myself,  yesterday,  and 
Charley  and  I  are  going  to  stay  to  communion." 

His  sister  made  a  wry  face.  "  He'll  be  just  Presby 
terian  enough  to  sit  through  the  Glorias,  and  stand  in 
the  prayers,"  cried  she ;  "  but  never  mind,  try  it  if  you 
like." 

Charley  made  a  slight  facial  contortion  in  reply  to  this. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  383 

"  Did  you  say  you  had  a  cold  and  your  nose  was  all 
stopped,"  said  he,  feelingly. 

"  Yes,"  said  Peace,  a  little  remorseful. 

"  Your  tongue — I  suppose  nothing  could  stop  that," 
in  a  still  more  concerned  tone. 

The  young  lady  found  the  laugh  against  her,  and  be 
ing  "  touchy,"  in  view  of  the  family  contempt  for  her 
victory  in  Francis  Haythorne's  religious  training,  retired 
soon  after  in  gloom. 

"  There !  I've  snubbed  Charley,"  said  she,  repentantly. 

"  Well,"  answered  Mollie,  who  was  darning  stockings 
in  her  friend's  room,  absent-minded — as  usual. 

"  But  that's  not  the  worst :  I've  snubbed  father  too, 
and  I  must  go  and  make  it  right." 

"  Is  it  all  fixed  ?  "  asked  her  friend,  seeing  her  return 
radiant  after  a  short  absence. 

Peace  nodded,  and  replaced  her  scarlet  morocco  purse 
in  her  pocket. 

"  What  did  you  say,"  inquired  Mollie,  curious  to  know 
how  Lady  Lofty  would  effect  an  apology. 

"  I  asked  him  for  fifty  cents." 

"  .Quern  deus  vult  perdere  prius  dementat,"  might 
have  been  set  down  after  the  indignity  Peace  had  offered 
her  brother. 

Next  morning,  Charley  presented  himself  at  Mollie's 
door,  elegantly  gotten  up,  with  a  view  to  accompanying 
her  to  worship. 

The  ringing  bells  and  smiling  day  invited  forth,  and 
his  companion  was  too  deeply  mindful  of  her  recent  study 
upon  the  preparation  for  confession,  and  the  psalms,  to 
mark  the  wicked  look  on  his  face,  or  the  big  horse-shoe 
magnet  carried  in  a  pious  attitude  under  his  arm. 

The  seat  in  church  proved  a  matter  for  no  small 
manoeuvring ;  the  young  gentleman  utterly  refusing  to 


384:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

let  Mollie  pass  in  decorously  with  Peace,  but  thrusting 
her  with  himself  into  the  pew  behind,  after  an  ominous 
glare  at  the  occupying  strangers. 

Peace  who  was  very  devout,  rose  from  her  knees,  and 
disposed  herself  in  a  posture  to  give  fixed  attention  to 
the  epistles  and  gospels.  Then  Mollie,  sitting  too  far  off 
to  help,  was  horrified  to  perceive  her  escort  produce  his 
instrument,  and  applying  it  gently  to  the  back  of  his  sis 
ter's  head,  draw  forth,  in  triumph,  an  adhesive  hair 
pin. 

Off  came  the  curl  that  imparted  such  a  graceful  air  to 
the  neck,  and  the  appendage  was  joyfully  jammed  into 
Charley's  pocket,  while  the  sufferer  looked  behind  her 
uneasily. 

"  The  glory  of  a  woman  is  her  long  hair,"  read  the 
minister,  just  as  Charley  tackled  an  enormous  bit  of 
iron  that  secured  the  whole  coiffure.  Up  to  this  time 
all  came  easily  from  the  loose  twists  of  Peace's  handsome 
tresses,  but  the  one  in  hand  resisted.  The  lady  gave  her 
head  an  impatient  toss,  but  the  magnet  wouldn't  let  go. 
Charley  determined  to  make  or  break — gave  a  fearful 
pull  that  brought  the  tears  to  her  eyes,  and  the  whole 
rippling  abundance  over  her  shoulders,  while  her  jaunty 
hat,  deprived  of  its  natural  support,  tilted  over  her  nose, 
and,  after  a  futile  clinging  of  perhaps  a  second,  dropped 
into  her  lap.  Mrs.  Grundy  saw  the  catastrophe,  and 
Peace  found  her  misery  complete.  She  would  fain  have 
concealed  her  tears  of  vexation  in  a  handkerchief  so  fine 
they  leaked  through ;  but  Charley's  vengeance  was  not  yet 
satisfied.  The  last  tune  was  given  out — "  Portugal ;  " 
the  congregation  were  to  join.  Now  it  was  Mr.  Hay- 
thorne's  turn  to  shudder.  His  tormentor  was  a  basso 
profundo,  and  he  dreaded,  not  without  cause,  for  Mr. 
Pelican  was  by  no  means  backward  in  such  preparations 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  385 

as  unbuttoning  his  vest,  coughing  preparatory,  and  ex 
panding  to  the  full  his  well-developed  chest. 

The  organist  gave  the  signal,  the  quartette  piped  up, 
the  congregation  joined  like  the  guests  at  the  Irishman's 
wedding,  who  came  one  in  a  gang,  two  in  a  gang,  and 
three  by  themselves, — when  suddenly  Charley  led  in  with 
a  harmonic  burst  that  shook  the  quavering  soprano 
into  fragments.  And  from  that  moment,  organ,  choir, 
people,  priests — all  faded  away  into  that  one  central 
figure — head  thrown  back,  foot  keeping  time,  hands 
clenched,  eyes  devoutly  rolled,  Charley  Pelican  singing 
"  Portugal." 

If  Francis  Haythorne's  horror  needed  a  finishing  touch, 
this  gave  it ;  and  he  lost  no  time  in  taking  Mollie  aside, 
and  warning  her  not  to  associate  with  a  young  man  whose 
reputation  was  so  confirmed  for  recklessness  and  folly. 

He  came  in  an  unfortunate  hour.  Miss  McCross  rose 
from  the  piano,  at  which  she  had  been  accompanying  the 
scapegrace  in  an  extravaganza  upon  the  "  Oysterman  " — 
where  the  pathetic  acting  was  perfectly  laughable ; 
coupled  with  a  lesson  in  "  Johnnie  Smoker  "  equally  amus 
ing,  and  still  red-cheeked  and  smiling,  followed  the  re 
monstrating  friend  into  the  parlor,  seated  herself 
obediently,  and  prepared  to  give  close  attention  to  any 
thing  he  might  have  to  impart. 

His  conscience  told  him  the  task  was  ungracious,  but 
what  man  can  resist  the  opportunity  to  enact  the  harm 
less  parental  toward  a  charming  woman.  Without  exactly 
analyzing  the  thought,  the  young  physician  had  an  idea 
of  pleasant,  steady  eyes  raised  to  his,  dewy  with  grati 
tude,  and  a  murmured  "  Thanks !  how  foolish  I  have 
been  !  What  have  you  saved  me  from  ?  Be  my  brother 
always,"  which  should  swell  the  aforesaid  paternal  interest 
17 


386  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

into  delightful  self-approval,  and  sense  of  difficult  duty 
performed.     He  accordingly  waded  in  with  boldness. 

He  referred  to  his  respect  for  her,  his  long  acquaintance ; 
in  short,  her  unprotected  position  and  guileless  nature 
animated  him  to  his  friendly  task.  Forgive  him,  but  if 
she  allowed  herself  such  unrestricted  intercourse  with 
young  Pelican,  people  would  talk. 

Mollie's  face  during  this  little  adjuration  formed  a 
study  of  discomfort,  but  it  cleared  as  he  proceeded,  and 
when  he  finished,  she  asked  with  inimitable  naivete : 

«  What  will  they  say  ?  " 

Mr.  Haythorne  was  cornered.  In  lieu  of  meek  sub 
mission  to  the  masculine  judgment,  she  demanded  ex 
planations.  He  wished  he'd  held  his  tongue,  and  re 
marked  with  freezing  dignity,  that  no  other  young  lady 
of  his  acquaintance  would  have  entangled  herself  in  so 
disadvantageous  a  connection,  and  he  permitted  his  soul 
to  hope  she  would  dissolve  it  at  once. 

"  You  think,  then,  that  I  am  not  fit  to  be  a  friend  to  a 
man  in  involved  circumstances  ?  "  asked  Mollie,  her  inno 
cent  face  precluding  the  belief  that  she  comprehended 
his  position.  "  Thanks  for  your  good  opinion." 

"  I  mean  that  a  young  lady  has  no  right  to  any  acquaint 
ance  except  under  her  mother's  immediate  supervision," 
he  exclaimed,  thoroughly  irritated,  "  and  you  prove  it." 

Miss  McCross  laughed  softly.  His  sense  of  politeness 
rose  against  him,  he  retracted,  and  became  more  enraged 
every  instant.  The  young  lady  was  not  a  whit  out  of 
countenance. 

"  Admitting,  then,  that  being  a  woman  grown  I  have 
some  shadow  of  guiding  principle,"  said  she  in  her  calm, 
matter-of-fact  way,  "how  am  I  to  account  to  God  for  the 
friendship  and  respect  with  which  he  has  inspired  Mr. 
Pelican  for  me  ?  " 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  337 

Perplexed  by  this  view,  the  gentleman  suggested  that 
he  should  think  she  ought  to  be  smart  enough  to  manage 
that  herself. 

"  When  I  see  Louis,  how  am  I  to  explain  my  forget- 
fulness  to  do  good  to  the  one  man  who  repented  wronging 
him." 

Mr.  Haythorne  said  he  didn't  know ;  he  was  thinking 
about  her  reputation. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  any  one  will  attack  my  truth, 
my  purity,  or  my  faith  to  my  lover,  if  I  simply  persist  in 
rendering  common  kindness  to  a  suffering  man  ?  " 

"  No,  he  didn't  want  to  say  he  meant  exactly  that." 

"  But  you  think  so,"  responded  Mollie,  quietly.  "  You 
have  lived  more  years  than  I.  Francis  Haythorne,  you 
have  drifted  easily  down  the  current  of  a  man's  pleasantest 
experiences,  but  I  have  come  face  to  face  with  life's 
realities.  Forgive  me  if  I,  too,  tell  my  opinion.  Repu 
tation  in  the  slanderous  tongue  of  gossip  is  not  to  be 
made  the  light-house  by  which  an  honest-purposed  man 
can  shape  his  course.  It  is  not  the  light  that  will 
illuminate  his  success.  If  one  will  be  true  to  principle, 
true  to  Christianity,  he  must  not  think  of  himself,  must 
be  satisfied  to  be,  and  let  '  they  say '  prove  what  it  will.'' 
She  was  in  earnest,  spoke  out  of  her  heart,  full  of  the 
lesson  her  lover's  pain  had  taught  her,  and  the  suffering 
whereby  she  learned  it  was  still  sharp.  But  the  Sybarite 
could  not  understand  ;  she  saw  that  she  was  not  compre 
hended,  and  condensed  her  answer.  "  In  short,  as  long  as 
Peace's  brother  honors  me  by  his  liking  I  shall  do  my 
best  to  be  worthy  of  it,  by  promoting  his  happiness  to  the 
extent  of  my  ability." 

Mollie  only  meant  to  explain  her  position  thoroughly, 
but  her  would-be  protector  rose  stiffly,  and  said  that  he'd 
tried  to  do  the  kind  thing,  and  should  wash  his  hands  of 


388  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS, 

the  whole  business.  Something  about  his  self-satisfied 
disapproval  suddenly  fired  the  young  lady's  wrath,  and 
she  rejoined  in  a  good  deal  of  heat,  "Quite  a  needless 
operation,  Francis  Haythorne.  Those  soft  fingers  have 
never  been  soiled  in  helping  a  single  human  being  from 
the  slough,  be  he  never  so  wretched  ;  and  let  me  tell  you 
that  to  pass  by  continually  on  the  other  side,  as  is  your 
way,  will  do  for  Levites  and  priests,  perhaps,  but  is  dis 
grace  to  a  gentleman." 

As  Mr.  Haythorne  qiiitted  the  room  thoroughly  dis 
comfited,  and  Charley, ensconced  behind  a  window-curtain, 
had  heard  this  whole  interview,  what  more  natural  than 
for  him  to  emerge  thence  all  impulse,  and,  urged  by 
shame  and  anger,  pour  out  his  woes  to  his  declared  friend. 

"  I  haven't  been  drunk  but  twice  since  you've  been 
here,"  said  he,  "  and  I  shouldn't  ever  have  turned  out  so, 
if  father  hadn't  kept  a  horse-whip  for  me  down  cellar, 
and  mother  a  hiding-place  up  garret,  when  she  thought  I'd 
get  it.  It  isn't  good  for  a  fellow  to  be  see-sawed  that 
way,"  with  a  sudden  laugh  in  the  midst  of  his  misery ;  "  I 
know  my  reputation  isn't  good  ;  it  ought  not  to  be." 

"  It  might  be  bettered,"  suggested  Mollie. 

l<  But  I  don't  love  to  behave,"  cried  Charley  energeti 
cally.  "  Be  good  and  you  will  be  happy,  but  you'll  have 
an  awful  stupid  time." 

Mollie  didn't  answer,  only  looked  down. 

Her  silence  made  Charley  uneasy.  "  Did  Haythorne 
surprise  you  to-night  ?  "  asked  he. 

"  No,"  very  unwillingly. 

"  Did  you  suppose  it  would  cost  you  so  much  to  make 
friends  with  me  ?  " 

«  Yes." 

"  Then  it  does  cost  ?  "  said  Charley,  half  in  interroga 
tion,  half  regret. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  389 

"Yes,"  said  Mollie,  frankly,  "it  costs,  but  I'm 
willing." 

He  sprang  to  his  feet  and  walked  impetuously  up  and 
down  the  room. 

Mollie  sat  quite  still,  and  prayed  for  him  in  her  heart. 

"  Why  are  you  satisfied  ?  "  said  he,  throwing  himself  on 
the  carpet  beside  her. 

"  Because  I'm  a  Christian,  and  love  Louis."  This  time 
the  answer  came  with  a  struggle.  It  is  hard  to  unveil 
our  precious  things  to  eyes  that  are  alien.  Mollie  under 
went  a  conflict  with  herself  nowadays,  whenever  she 
named  her  affianced,  and  hating  cant  above  all  things — 
except  to  her  Sunday-school  scholars,  she  seldom  men 
tioned  her  religious  emotions  at  all. 

Charley  caught  up  the  reply,  and  began  a  second  race 
through  the  parlor.  Pretty  soon  he  came  back,  panting. 

"  No  woman  shall  ever  get  a  chance  to  bear  this  for  me 
twice,"  cried  he.  "  If  I  don't  turn  over  a  new  leaf  this 
minute,  you  needn't  ever  go  down  Main  Street  with  me 
again.  I  promise — swear — anything  you  like.  But  you 
mustn't  let  Peace,  or  that  doubled  rose-leaf  Haythorne, 
know,  or  I  shan't  have  courage  to  keep  resolution."  De 
lighted  with  himself,  he  hereupon  walked  the  elephant  all 
round  by  the  wall,  and  stood  on  his  head,  and  looked  at 
the  acquiescent  holder  of  his  good  resolves  from  between 
his  knees. 

Mollie  went  to  bed  happy  that  night,  as  who  would  not. 
But  her  feelings  were  destined  to  receive  a  slight  check 
the  very  next  day,  when  Peace  took  her  favoi-ite  walk, 
past  the  bronze  statue  of  Liberty.  A  pointing,  snicker 
ing  crowd  had  gathered  thereabout,  and  no  wonder ! 
As  soon  as  the  girls  came  near  enough  to  see,  they 
found  it  adorned  with  a  vast  and  magnificent  bustle  of 
newspapers ;  and  Charley  sitting  complacently  in  the  office 


390  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

opposite,  watching  the  effect  of  his  handiwork,  and  Fran 
cis  Haythorne,  pale  with  fury,  in  the  act  of  being  dis 
persed  by  a  policeman,  who  thought  he  did  it. 

But  for  all  this,  the  promise  was  kept,  and  Charley  had 
a  hard  time,  and  so  did  Mollie. 

Nursing  that  mercurial  spirit  back  to  hope,  was  no  easy 
task  of  itself ;  but  it  entailed  a  host  of  outside  troubles. 

Mollie  was  separately  warned  by  all  her  acquaintance, 
beginning  with  Miss  Petingil,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the 
gossip  and  censure  that  every  one  felt  it  right  to  bring  to 
her  ears,  she  scarcely  knew  whether  the  tie  that  bound 
her  to  the  reprobate  was  indelicate  self-will,  or  solemn 
duty.  Her  griefs,  forced  upon  her  from  without,  had  not 
a  tithe  of  the  stinging,  maddening,  soul  exasperation 
brought  by  her  pride  and  self-satisfaction,  continually 
wounded  through  uncomprehending  comment  and  rebuke. 
A  thousand  times  she  turned  the  key  upon  self  and  her 
troubles,  half  resolved  to  fly  the  struggle ;  but  as  surely, 
the  fact  that,  respectable  or  the  reverse,  Charley  was  try 
ing  his  best,  and  depended  on  her,  made  her  duty  plain. 
Then  she  would  pray,  remember  Louis  and  his  greater 
siiffering,  and  peaceful  and  strong  in  sense  of  integrity, 
go  down  stairs  to  endure  and  conquer. 

She  used  to  walk  and  ride  with  her  care,  when  it 
seemed  that  every  curious,  doubtful  glance  bestowed  on 
them  was  a  brand  laid  on  her  soul ;  and  she  was  thankful 
when  her  acquaintance  crossed  the  street  to  avoid  meet 
ing  her,  the  righteous  disapproval  in  their  faces  made  her 
so  wretched. 

And  all  this  happened,  not  because  Charley  was  vicious 
or  criminal — other  men  did  far  worse  than  he  every  day 
of  their  lives — but  simply  because  his  follies  were,  little 
and  big,  all  done  in  the  face  and  eyes  of  society,  in 
regardless  opposition  to  its  usages.  And  society  frowned, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  391 

not  because  its  morals  were  shocked,  but  because  its  hypo 
crisies  were  forgotten. 

How  much  the  origin  of  all  this  saw  of  his  friend's  dis 
comfort,  he  never  told ;  but  the  fact  was  he  knew  the 
whole,  and  the  sense  that  she  was  willing  to  suffer  for 
him  was  the  gate  that  shut  the  old  life  out  behind  him, 
and  as  truly  the  one  source  of  courage  to  go  on  with  the 
new. 

As  long  as  a  man  stands  face  down-hill,  he  finds  com 
panionship  in  plenty,  at  every  stage  of  descent.  But  let 
him  turn  to  climb  back,  and  neither  blood  nor  religion 
give  anything  but  kicks.  Charley  used  to  come  home 
frantic  with  the  slights  and  insults  he  received,  and  rush 
away  to  escape  the  annoyances  that  awaited  him  there. 
The  anxious,  silent  review  his  mother  gave  him  at 
every  entrance ;  the  matter-of-course  counting  out  in 
case  of  responsibility,  by  his  father;  Peace's  invar 
iable  expectation  of  his  wrong-doing  where  wrong-do 
ing  was  possible ;  her  lover's  gentlemanly  toleration  of 
him — were  all  merited,  but  none  the  less  blows  to  the  timid 
and  sensitive  self-respect  just  beginning  to  spring  out  of 
a  new  purpose  of  right  living.  The  very  guests  at  the 
house  would  compliment  Peace,  be  suave  to  Mollie,  fawn 
on  the  rich  proprietor,  admire  Mr.  Haythorne,  and,  with 
bland  purpose,  forget  Absalom's  very  existence. 

It  seemed  to  Mollie  that  the  whole  structure  of  society 
was  arranged  to  prevent  a  bad  man's  ever  returning  to  good 
behavior.  Charley  didn't  talk  much  of  his  troubles,  but 
he'd  sit  brooding  over  them  hour  after  hour,  his  handsome 
face  gray  with  misery ;  and  she  was  forever  on  the  rack, 
lest  in  a  moment  of  despair  he'd  give  way  to  some  piece  of 
folly,  and  roll  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  Hill  of  Difficulty 
without  ado.  At  such  times  she  used  to  bring  her  guitar, 
and  sing  softly.  It  did  no  good  to  talk.  Her  old-fash- 


392  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

ioned  ballads,  rendered  with  the  perfect  simplicity  of  feel 
ing  ;  her  few  quaint  hymns,  sung  as  if  to  please  herself, 
not  her  hearer,  were  a  better,  because  more  matter-of- 
course,  mode  of  consolation. 

She  used  to  begin  with  "  Robin  Grey,"  and  then  give 
the  "  Rainy  Day,"  and  then  "  Kathleen  O'Moore,"  or 
"  Captain  O'Kane."  By  that  time  he'd  be  ready  to  have 
her  say,  "  Never  mind,  Charley;  just  keep  on,  and  it'll  all 
come  right,"  which  was  at  once  prophecy,  advice,  and 
prayer.  Sunday  evenings  she  held  to  her  custom  of  go 
ing  off  by  herself  to  sing,  "  When  marshalled  011  the 
Nightly  Plain,"  and  "  In  the  Cross  of  Christ  I  glory," 
and  dream  of  Louis,  who  had  loved  to  render  them  to 
her  in  gone-by  days.  It  often  happened  that  Charley 
stole  thither,  lonely  and  forlorn,  to  sit  in  a  corner  in  the 
dark,  unnoticed,  and  listen ;  and  Mrs.  Pelican  came  with 
equal  silence  to  strengthen  her  soul  by  the  Christian  melody. 
Peace,  too,  assumed  the  sofa,  and  Francis  Haythorne 
drifted  without  definite  purpose  to  the  other  end  of  the 
same  piece  of  furniture ;  and  by  and  by  the  brisk  and 
portly  master  of  the  house  would  appear,  grumbling  at  the 
neglectful  servants,  strike  a  light,  dissolve  the  spell,  and 
reveal  the  astonished  household  to  each  other,  soft-hearted, 
off  their  guai'd,  and  ready  to  blend  into  the  wholesome 
family  unity,  so  rudely  shattered  by  misdoing  and  hurt 
pride.  But  in  spite  of  these  swelling  buds  of  promise, 
the  waiting  time  was  dreary.  Peace,  who  held  far  less 
hope  than  Mollie,  because  she  had  more  at  stake,  and 
who  blamed  herself  for  bringing  her  guest  into  so  hard  a 
place,  was  unnaturally  mirthful,  and  belligerent,  cross,  and 
exacting  by  turns.  Old  Mr.  Pelican  scolded  Charley  all 
the  time,  because  he  neglected  the  business  and  took  no 
interest.  His  mother,  with  her  usual  quiet  pertinacity, 
resolved  to  have  him  make  sure  of  his  salvation,  and  go 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  393 

into  Holy  Orders — which  the  poor  fellow,  whose  new- 
sprung  principles  weren't  any  longer  than  cabbage  sprouts, 
couldn't  wish  to  do.  Peace  also  presented  him  with 
an  armful  of  nau scons  sermons — never  read  by  herself — 
and  Francis  Ilaythorne  told  her  to  advise  him  to  culti 
vate  his  sense  of  the  aesthetic  as  a  safeguard  againt  lapses 
from  the  ideal  beautiful,  and  lent  him  Ruskin,  and  some 
ti'eatises  on  art.  Half  wild  among  these  well-meaning 
but  diverse  leadings,  their  subject  had  nearly  gone  under. 
Mollie  fell  into  a  panic  lest  the  strain  should  be  too  great, 
and  watched  developments  with  increasing  dismay.  Just 
as  he  was  on  the  point  of  loathing  the  honeycomb,  she 
had  an  enlightening,  and  insisted  that  he  should  take  her 
to  Barnum's,  Sam  Sharpley's  Minstrels,  and  the  Man  of 
Airlie.  The  family,  who  never  hesitated  on  amusements 
for  themselves,  were  in  high  dudgeon  at  this  summary 
dragging  to  the  slaughter  of  their  recovered  lamb.  But 
it  acted  like  soda  on  a  disturbed  stomach;  and  when 
she  found  her  patient  dyeing  the  poodle  purple  and  yel 
low,  and  subsequently  hitching  a  tin  dipper  to  his  tail,  in 
a  renewed  sense  of  the  value  of  life  in  the  paths  of 
righteousness,  she  felt  that  it  paid. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  disturbed  waters,  Francis 
Haythorne  sailed  serene.  He  was  the  only  let-up  in  the 
house.  Having  freed  his  mind  and  swallowed  his  wrath 
at  the  result,  he  proceeded  to  oil  the  family  points  of  fric 
tion,  fended  off  vexed  questions,  and  made  himself  com 
fortable  in  spite  of  all.  He  once  or  twice  hinted  to 
Mollie  as  obscurely  possible  some  way  of  helping  Charley, 
taking  care  at  the  same  time  to  show  that  he  disapproved 
utterly  of  her  course.  Otherwise,  he  left  her  altogether 
alone,  devoting  himself  to  Peace,  who  sadly  needed  aid ; 
and  he  contrived  withal  to  be  imperturbably  good-humored 
and  at  ease,  so  that  a  mere  look  at  him  as  he  strolled 
17* 


394:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

about  the  house,  elegant  and  dainty  and  lazy,  in  the 
loveliest  of  purple  velvet  lounging  caps,  the  furriest  of 
dressing-gowns,  the  most  beflowered  of  slippers,  a  brown 
nieerschau'm  at  mouth,  and  the  literary  sweets  of  the  day 
in  hand,  the  piano  in  dreamy  contemplation — was  re 
freshing. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

"  Chickeny,  chickeny,  craney-crow, 
I  went  to  the  well  to  wash  my  toe, 
When  I  came  buck  my  chickens  were  dead." 

OLLIE  didn't  lose  the  affection  of  Syllabub  when 
she  departed  for  Top  Town.  Few  weeks  passed 
without  a  letter  or  visit  from  some  of  the  little 
group  of  friends  her  gentle  kindness  had  gathered  about 
her. 

One  day  Peace  entered  the  brown-and-gold  bed-room, 
where  her  companion  was  wont  to  recreate  herself  with 
choice  volumes  of  entomological  lore,  and  all  manner  of 
curious  needle-work.  The  damsel's  eyes  were  flashing 
with  mirth,  and  she  sank  upon  a  stuffed  ottoman  in  a 
paroxysm  of  laughter. 

"  Amos  Daley  is  down-stairs,  and  he's  brought  you 
something  " — here  she  went  off  again, — "  '  something  to 
keep  ye  from  bein'  lonely,'  and  he  evidently  expects  you 
to  bring  it  right  up  into  your  room  for  a  pet." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Peace  ?  "  cried  Mollie,  springing 
to  her  feet,  pleasure  quickening  her  pulse  and  breath ; 
and  she  nervously  smoothed  her  hair — always  shining  and 
dainty  in  arrangement — preparatory  to  descent. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  305 

"  Oh,  never  mind !  you'll  find  out,"  answered  the 
cachinnating  Juno,  becoming  apoplectic  in  her  endeavors 
to  obtain  composure.  "  He  has  mounted  guard  over  it  as 
a  soldier  would  over  the  stars  and  stripes. 

"  '  Win  her  with  gifts,  if  she  respect  not  words ; 
Dumb  jewels  often,  in  their  silent  kind, 
More  quick  than  words,  do  move  a  woman's  mind. ' " 

Seeing  her  friend's  emotions  grown  too  strong  for  further 
utterance,  Mollie  sought  Amos  without  delay. 

Seated  upon  the  extreme  edge  of  a  scarlet  damask  chair, 
his  long  limbs  gathered  under  him,  his  hat  tightly  grasped 
as  if  prepared  to  run  at  the  slightest  alarm,  our  hero's 
sharp  eyes  had  already  photographed  on  his  mind  every 
item  of  the  massive  and  completely  appointed  drawing- 
room.  Somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  complication  of 
pier-glasses,  landscapes  by  Turner,  velvet  carpets,  carved 
chairs  and  contadinas,  sported  by  the  Pelicans,  the  young 
man  advanced,  blushing  but  friendly,  and  deposited  at 
Mollie's  feet  a  covered  basket,  from  which  issued  an  omin 
ous  "  cut-cut "  that  would  not  be  stifled.  "  It's  a  smahl  bit 
of  a  pet  for  ye  from  meself,"  he  explained,  with  modest 
confidence. 

"  Sit  down,  please,"  cried  Mary,  and  drew  the  enigma 
toward  her. 

"  I  must  be  goin',"  said  Amos,  gazing  wistfully  at  the 
door,  but  seated  himself,  notwithstanding,  in  a  bolt-up 
right  attitude,  whose  intense  but  persevered  in  discomfort 
did  credit  to  his  stoicism. 

As  Mollie  peeped  into  the  wickerware,  an  immense 
shanghai  rooster  suddenly  straightened  himself,  and  eyed 
his  astonished  recipient  with  a  malevolent  glance ;  then, 
coolly  stepping  to  her  lap,  executed  a  clarion  note  that 
suggested  to  old  Mr.  Pelican,  dozing  off  in  his  afternoon 


396  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

nap,  a  vision  of  war-painted  Blackfeet  uttering  the  fatal 
whoop,  as  he  had  seen  them  in.  his  youth,  and  sent  Peace 
away  from  the  door  crack  in  an  audible  giggle. 

"  How  handsome  he  is!  "  exclaimed  delighted  Mollie, 
to  whom  any  testimony  of  affection  was  sacredly  precious, 
and  whose  valuing  of  a  gift  sometimes  bore  an  inverse 
ratio  to  its  fitness.  The  pleasure  in  her  face  was  reflected 
on  Amos'  freckled  countenance,  as  he  exclaimed  proudly  : 

"  Jest  hear  him !  I  teached  him  to  do  that,"  and  en 
ticed  the  tall  biped  to  his  own  knee  with  a  low  "  Zack- 
Zack." 

"This  is  a  most  majestic  vision,  and  harmonious 
charmingly.  May  I  be  bold  to  think  these  spirits  ?  "  said 
Peace  looking  in. 

"  No,  ma'am,  it's  a  chicken,"  answered  Amos,  rising 
to  make  an  angular  bow ;  "  and  excuge  me  say  in.'  his 
name's  Zack." 

"  Can't  you  have  him  sing  again  ?  "  inquired  the  young 
lady,  bent  on  aggravating  the  shy,  proud  visitor.  "  I  can 
suck  melancholy  out  of  a  song,  as  a  weasel  sucks  eggs." 

"  Sure  it's  small  politeness  the  cock  owes  the  weasel," 
retorted  Amos,  "  except  the  weight  of  his  too  futs  just, 
which  he'll  show  you  ef  you  meddle  with  him,  I'll  be 
bound.  Doppy  an'  ine  got  him  for  you  last  fall,  Miss 
Mollie  ;  but  he  didn't  take  to  no  thricks  easy,  an'  you  fell 
sick  before  we  had  him  larnt.  I  sez  to  Mr.  Vedder,  '  Mr. 
Jan,'  sez  I,  '  there's  a  lady  in  Millville  as  I  tought  lots  on, 
cause  she'd  ben  kind  to  me,  an'  I  wanted  to  give  some 
thing  to,  an'  them  long-legged  fellows  was  a  fine  sort  of 
fowl ; '  an'  '  Amos,'  sez  he,  '  the  perty  white  leghorns  is 
better  fur  a  lady — but  you're  welcome  to  anything  ye  see 
ruunin'  around  the  place,'  meanin'  the  poultry  yard,  ( the 
place,'  sez  he — '  at  all,  at  all.'  '  But  sure  it's  the  biggest 
I'd  give,  if  any,'  thinks  I,  an'  Doppy  an'  me  have  brought 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  397 

up  the  chick  from  a  little  feller,  and  we  thought " — here 
Amos  glanced  sidewise  at  Peace,  who  was  brimming  with 
mischievous  fun,  and  came  to  a  dead  halt. 

"  Go  on,"  said  she,  bestowing  a  look  of  studied  tender 
ness  on  the  strutting  fowl,  "  there  is  much  music  in  his 
fitful  hymn  heard  in  the  drowsy  watches  of  the  night,  I 
suppose  ?  " 

The  angry  blood  rushed  into  the  young  Irishman's  face, 
and,  with  one  vicious  swoop,  he  pounced  on  his  rooster 
and  started  for  the  door. 

Mollie,  whose  annoyance  at  Peace's  jokes  had  been 
the  chief  incentive  to  their  progress,  was  beforehand. 
Seizing  the  would-be  tormentor  by  the  arms,  she  forcibly 
turned  her,  laughing  and  resisting,  from  the  room. 

Intent  on  studying  the  ways  of  the  big  folks,  Amos 
loosed  his  clutch  on  the  pet,  which  made  the  first  use  of 
its  liberty  to  fly  at  Mrs.  Pelican,  who  had  come  timidly 
in  to  view  the  wonder.  Away  skipped  the  old  lady,  gray 
curls  bobbing,  and  the  red  slippers,  that  caught  Zack's 
fancy,  in  full  display  ;  Zack  himself  following  with  deep 
shaking  wattles  and  outspread  wings,  round  the  parlor 
and  out  to  the  hall,  through  the  parlor  again,  now  fairly 
cornered,  now  skipping  forth  triumphant,  the  eyes  of  the 
fowl  red  with  fury,  the  lips  of  his  prey  white  with  fear. 
"O  Mollie,  Mollie,"  she  gasped,  as,  fairly  penned  behind 
the  stairs,  she  strove  to  elude  her  enemy  by  a  series  of  tre 
mendous  leaps,  "  would  you  mind  asking  the  young  man  to 
call  his  chicken  away  ?  I  mean  no  disrespect  to  the  bird — 
but  indeed — I  am  a  little — "  here  she  executed  a  spring 
prodigious,  "  out  of  practice  with  poultry." 

"  Of  coorse,"  said  Amos,  concisely.  "  Bless  ye  !  he 
was  only  playin'  wid  ye.  Me  an'  Doppy  larnt  him  that 
— Sakes,  you  hain't  see  half  his  thricks.  Here,  Zack,  do 
the  spread-eagle ;  bow  to  your  missus."  But  Zack  was 


398  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

too  much  intei-ested  in  the  red  slippers,  whereupon  Amos 
quietly  picked  him  up  and  stuffed  him  into  the  basket. 
"  There,"  said  he,  deeply  disgusted.  "  Doppy  told  me 
not  to  try  to  show  him  off  in  a  strange  place,  cause  it's 
the  nature  of  us  chaps  to  be  bashful." 

The  awkward,  self-conscious  Irishman,  vainly  attempt 
ing  to  quench  the  eager,  scarlet-eyed  cock  in  the  basket, 
on  one  side ;  Mrs.  Pelican,  exhausted  and  disarranged  be 
yond  parallel,  in  costume  on  the  other ;  Peace  executing 
cuts  behind  the  dining-room  door,  in  feeble  imitation  of 
her  mother's  and  her  own  mental  perplexity  at  extricat 
ing  them  from  the  curious  complication  in  good-humor, 
were  too  much  for  Mollie's  gravity ;  she  sat  down  on  the 
floor  to  have  her  laugh  out,  whereupon  dear,  gentle  Mrs. 
Pelican,  finding  her  terror  temporarily  suppressed,  came 
from  her  hiding-place  in  the  closet,  among  the  brooms  and 
dusters,  with  a  few  green  and  purple  feathers  rampant 
among  her  curls,  perhaps  as  trophies  ;  but  she  joined  so 
heartily  in  the  mirth,  that  Mr.  Daley  got  over  his  morti 
fication,  and  in  lieu  of  instant  departure,  fowl  and  all, 
gave  up  the  biped  to  the  footman's  care,  with  beaming 
face. 

"  Tell  me  about  little  Doppy,"  said  Mary,  when,  their 
friends  disposed  of,  they  were  cosily  seated  in  two  green 
easy-chairs  in  the  library. 

A  cloud  passed  over  Amos'  open  countenance.  "  I  don't 
know,"  responded  he,  uneasily.  "  I  hain't  see  her  fur  a 
week." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  persisted  Mollie,  suspecting  something 
wrong  from  his  manner. 

"  Me  an'  Doppy  ain't  friends  no  longer,"  responded 
Amos,  tracing  out  the  pattern  of  fern  leaves  on  the  carpet 
with  the  toe  of  his  boot.  "  I  hain't  nothing  to  say  agin 
little  Doppy.  We've  stood  by  each  other  for  years  and 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  399 

years ;  but  she's  contrairy  beyond  anything  ever  I  see, 
and  won't  listen  to  nuthin,'  howsomever  you  put  it." 

"What's  she  done?"  cried  Mollie,  aghast. 

"  Me  an'  Doppy  made  it  up  together,  an'  Doppy  left  it 
fur  me,  she  knowin'  I  like  to  do  anything  fur  her ;  an' 
when  I'd  done  it,  she  flies  right  up  an'  sez,  'Amos 
Daley,'  sez  she,  '  it's  a  mean  trick  you've  ben  puttin'  on 
the  likes  of  me,'  sez  she,  '  an'  ye  needn't  be  hangin'  agin 
my  door-posts,  seein'  you've  served  me  so,'  sez  she,  '  fur  I 
hate  the  sight  of  ye  ;  an'  of  coorse  I  wint." 

"But  what  did  you  do  that  was  wrong?"  pursued 
Mollie,  rather  mystified  by  this  recital. 

"  I  hain't  done  nuthin',"  insisted  Amos,  stoutly.  "  I 
minded  jest  what  she  said, — as  how  Aleck  Heffron's  sister 
was  lonesome,  an'  had  no  partners  at  the  social  dances ; 
and  '  Amos,'  sez  she,  '  it's  no  more'n  right  ov  you  to  dance 
wid  her  an'  be  polite.'  An'  I  done  as  she  said.  When  the 
evenin'  was  past,  seein'  Aleck  went  off  with  the  other 
young  lady  he  had  brought,  an'  the  poor  thing  had  none 
to  see  her  home,  I  asked  if  I  mightn't,  though  I  didn't  care 
too  much,  an'  I  thought  Doppy'd  come  along  widg  us. 
But  she  wouldn't  do  no  such  thing ;  an'  ran  off  as  fast  as 
she  could.  She  hain't  spoke  civil  sence,  though  it's  most 
two  weeks  now." 

His  face  of  sleepless  misery,  when  he  concluded  this 
dismal  tale,  was  fairly  heart-rending.  Now  too  that  the 
color  raised  by  the  excitement  of  Zack's  performances  had 
abated,  Mollie  noticed  how  tired  and  worn  he  looked. 

"Are  you  very  unhappy  ?  "  she  asked  by  way  of  a 
feeler. 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  he  answered  earnestly  ;  "  I  hain't  had 
the  spirit  to  work  or  nothin',  sence ;  I  lay  awake  the  hull 
of  last  night  thinkiu'  about  it ;  you  see  it  ain't  the  same 
between  me  an'  Doppy,  as  it  is  between  other  folks. 


400  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Doppy  an'  me  has  ben  friends  from  the  time  we  was 
dirty  an'  swearin'  an'  miserable.  An'  I've  helped  Doppy, 
an'  she's  ben  good  to  me,  an'  I've  took  care  of  her  in 
ways  her  mother  might  ha  done,  if  so  be  as  she'd  had  a 
mother,  lookin'  after  her  in  the  matter  of  Joe.  Though 
we're  respectable,  we  can't  forget  how  it  was  when  we 
could  call  no  man's  good  word  ourn,  that  is,  I  can't." 

"  But  you  have  plenty  of  other  friends  now,"  suggested 
Mollie,  her  soul  giving  ready  homage  to  his  faithfulness, 
but  womanlike,  wanting  to  try  him  further. 

"  Not  like  Doppy,"  with  his  whole  soul  in  the  denial ; 
"  takiu'  'em  all  together,  they  ain't  worth  her  little  finger. 
From  the  day  I  shied  the  kitten  at-  her,  straight  out, 
she's  ben  moi-e  to  me,  than  any  other  feller  in  Millville. 
When  she  sez,  '  Amos,  you  had  orter  go  to  work,'  I  went 
to  work.  She  knows  all  my  secrets,  an'  I  know  all  hers. 
There  isn't  a  day  in  the  year  but  what  I've  see  her ;  I 
split  wood  for  her,  an'  set  the  glass  in  her  windows,  and 
liked  to,  and  to  do  lots  of  things  I  wouldn't  for  any  one 
liviu'.  An' — an'  now  it's  all  up !  "  Poor  Amos  choked 
down  a  sob. 

"  '  If  love  were  what  the  rose  is, 
And  I  were  like  the  leaf,'  " 

quoted  Peace,  who  rather  enjoyed  such  complications. 
"  The  trouble  is,  that  Amos  don't  know  the  difference 
between  Daphne  and  Amyrillis.  Is  Miss  Heffron  as 
handsome  as  Aleck  ?  " 

"  No,  she  ain't,"  positively,  and  exchanging  the  expres 
sion  of  half-intelligent  perplexity,  with  which  he  usually 
followed  the  ladies'  side  conversations,  for  one  of  certain 
disgust.  "  She  sets  her  eyes  on  a  feller  as  if  she  wanted 
to  eat  him  for  table  sass,  an'  when  you're  dancin'  with 
her,  she  mighty  nigh  puts  her  head  on  your  shoulder. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  4Q1 

I've  heard  Doppy  say  many  a  time  it  warn't  no  right 
thing  for  a  girl  to  do.  Doppy,  she  always  carries  her 
self  like  a  queen  ;  an'  though  she's  a  real  beauty,  no  fel 
ler  ever  laid  a  finger  on  her  arm,  even.  As  for  the  Heffron, 
I  never  want  to  set  eyes  on  her  agin,  an'  I  wouldn't  then, 
if  it  hadn't  ben  for  Doppy." 

"  Oh,  well,  there  are  better  fish  in  the  sea  than  ever 
were  caught ;  get  another  friend  if  she's  so  disagreeable," 
advised  Peace  with  an  eye  to  possible  aggravation.  Such 
feeling  in  men  looked  like  a  myth  to  the  coquette. 

"  I  don't  want  no  other,"  cried  he  passionately ;  "  I 
won't  have  nobody  but  her.  She's  the  only  one  I  care 
anything  about  in  Syllabub.  I  dare  trust  my  life  with 
Doppy,  but  now  she's  so  mean  I  hate  her." 

"  You  must  have  had  an  encounter  when  you  went  for 
Zack  this  morning,"  suggested  Mollie,  who  was  pretty 
well  decided  to  seek  an  early  interview  with  Miss  Mulli 
gan. 

The  remembrance  apparently  added  fresh  fuel  to  the 
fire.  "  Yis,  I  did,"  cried  Amos,  clutching  his  basket  vin 
dictively,  "  an'  small  loss  if  I  hadn't.  '  Here,'  sez  she, 
puttin'  her  head  through  the  window,  '  hadn't  ye  better 
carry  yer  old  rid,  cluckin',  paddy  hin,  to  Miss  Mollie?  ' 
an'  I  tuck  it.  Now  I  understand  that  for  an  out  and 
out  insult,"  cried  Amos,  getting  on  his  dignity.  "  I'll 
not  let  her  nor  nobody  else,  be  it  who  they  may,  say  to  me, 
as  has  had  the  care  of  Mr.  Vedder's  fancy  poultry  for 
up'ards  of  two  years,  that  I  don't  know  a  fine  shanghai 
with  a  dash  of  fighting  blood  in  him,  from  one  of  those 
miserable  animiles  runnin'  around  Syllabub ;  I'll  never 
forgive  her ;  I'll  never  speak  to  her  again — not  if  she 
stands  weepin'  afore  my  eyes  for  a  hundred  years." 
Moved  by  the  pathetic  thought  of  Doppy  in  tears,  Amos 
looked  as  if  he  would  gladly  have  forgiven  her  then  and 


402  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

there ;  a  shudder  of  terror  ran  through  Mollie's  sincere 
sympathy.  She  could  take  a  fowl  of  low  degree  into  her 
affections.  But  a  game  cock  ! 

"  Will  he  fight,  Amos  ?  "  she  asked,  bestowing  a  terrified 
glance  at  Peace. 

"  Without  doubt,"  interrupted  that  young  lady  joy 
fully  ;  "  Amos  would  never  have  brought  him  at  all  this 
trouble,  if  he  couldn't.  Howl  shall  enjoy  setting  him  at 
Francis  Hay  thorne !  I  haven't  been  able  to  think  up  any 
thing  to  plague  him,  since  I  let  off  the  alarm  clock  to  flirt 
with  medical  students  in  the  next  block,  and  he  turned 
out  to  have  been  there  and  heard  it." 

"  Dade,  an'  ye  tell  the  truth,"  cried  Amos,  flattered. 
"  With  his  size,  'n  the  fightin'  blood  in  him,  I'll  lay  him 
agin  any  rooster  not  trained  in  all  Millville.  Why, 
Doppy  an'  me  had  to  keep  him  shut  up,  on  account  of 
him  pickin'  the  eyes  out  of  all  the  chickens  that  corned 
into  the  yard.  If  I  was  you,  I  wouldn't  let  him  loose 
when  strangers  bes  around.  It's  a  trick  of  hisii'  to  run 
at  old  gentlemen,  specially  if  they  wear  low  shoes." 

His  listener  shuddered,  remembering  that  such  was 
Mr.  Pelican's  invariable  custom. 

"  He  don't  eat  more  corn  than  most  roosters,  an'  he  is 
good  for  one  thing — to  wake  you  up.  Doppy  sez  he'll 
never  let  her  sleep  after  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  even 
in  winter,  he  makes  so  much  noise.  I've  heard  him  my 
self  where  I  live  ;  that's  two  blocks  off.  He's  better'n  a 
whistle  for  that.  But  what's  the  use  ?  Doppy's  mad,  an' 
takes  on  so,  I  don't  care  for  him,  nor  nothing  else,  any 
longer." 

"  Can't  you  prevail  on  her  to  listen  to  reason,  Amos?" 

"  No,"  returned  he,  sorrowfully,  "  I  don't  expect  to 
be  friends  with  her  no  more.  I  didn't  think  it  would 
ever  come  to  this ;  but  it  has — so —  Well,"  said  he,  get- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  4Q3 

ting  up  and  grabbing  his  cap,  "  I  may's  well  be  goin'. 
You  wouldn't  do  nutbin'  about  it,  would  you  ?  I  allus 
thought  lots  of  Doppy,  but  the  style  she's  ben  goin'  on 
these  two  weeks  is  awful,  lookin'  the  other  way  when 
you  meet  her,  an'  callin'  you  a  hypocrite,  an'  then  sayin' 
that  about  Zack  :  it's  too  much  to  stand  !  " 

"  She  only  did  it  to  plague." 

"  More  shame  to  her,"  he  answered.  "  She  had  a 
right  to  know  different  by  now.  When  she'll  want  to 
hurt  a  feller  as  has  never  gone  back  on  her,  she's  got  a 
bad  heart.  Now  she's  respectable,  she  thinks  she  can't 
do  better  than  rid  her  of  a  great  awkward  lout,  as  was 
friends  with  her  afore,  an'  it's  a  new  boy,  with  a  beaver  hat 
an'  cane,  that  sings  a  rowdy  song  out  of  tune,  she's  takin' 
up  with.  Good-by,  Zack ;  I  don't  want  to  stay  in  Mill- 
ville,  nor  nowhere  near.  Good-by,  miss." 

Poor  Amos ! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

"  Had  a  little  Hobby-Horse, 
His  name  was  Dapple  Grey, 
His  head  was  made  of  pea-straw, 
His  tail  was  made  of  hay. " 

OME,"  said  Mr.  Pelican,  senior  ;  "  come,  Mollie 
and  Peace.  Let's  all  go  and  hear  Wendell 
Phillips  to-night.  He  is  to  talk  on  '  Temper 
ance,  Labor,  and  Women.'  The  Temperance  Society- 
Good  Samaritans— bring  him  here,  and  I've  bought 
course  tickets  to  help  them  along."  So  the  rich  liquor- 
dealer's  family,  with  Mr.  Haythorne  in  close  attendance, 


404  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

in  due  time  settled  themselves  into  the  most  prominent 
seats  in  the  hall,  and  addressed  their  minds  to  a  charac 
teristic  talk  from  the  veteran  agitator. 

Quiet — a  fine-cut  gentleman — absorbed  so  much  in  the 
grandeur  of  his  subject  as  to  identify  himself  with  it,  the 
very  simplicity  of  his  silver  tongue  carried  conviction  to 
his  audience.  Old  Mr.  Pelican  writhed  under  the  stabs 
of  a  huge  pin  Peace  brought  with  her  as  a  punctuation 
point ;  and  Francis  Haythorne  sniffed  in  all  the  critical 
parts,  but  his  sniffs  were  those  of  a  man  convinced 
against  his  will.  The  orator  spoke  of  the  home,  not  as 
a  spot  to  be  brutalized  by  coarse  influx  of  masculine 
error,  but  as  a  heavenly  centre,  whence  light  should 
issue  to  all  the  world ;  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  from 
beneath  whose  threshold  shall  flow  the  waters  of  healing 
and  purification.  The  family,  he  said,  was  God's  type  of 
government,  and  should  be  carried  out.  It  was  not 
because  women  were  good  that  they  should  vote;  but 
because  God  made  man  and  woman  one  flesh,  and  in 
their  every  separation  we  possess  but  half  a  thing ;  and 
so  a  maimed  politics,  maimed  religion,  maimed  civiliza 
tion. 

Mollie  sat  perfectly  quiet,  weighing,  and  feeding  off 
eveiy  word.  We  often  go  on  living  for  long  months, 
witli  every  day,  as  it  seems  to  us,  just  like  every  other 
day ;  and  then  suddenly  some  half  hour's  talk,  some 
book,  some  well-sung  opera,  some  sermon,  some  chance 
word,  sets  fire  to  the  trains  thus  unconsciously  laid,  and 
we  experience  a  mental  explosion,  and  are  never  the 
same  to  ourselves  again.  Thus  it  happened  with  her. 
Years  of  work  in  Patience  of  Hope,  unwittingly  doing 
just  what  men  say  women  cannot  do;  years  of  agony 
for  one  and  another  friend  snared  in  the  pitfalls  of  life, 
about  which,  women,  they  say,  can  possibly  know  nothing; 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  4Q5 

years  of  patient  reading  on  all  the  questions  that  perplex 
political  economists  ;  years  of  self-dissatisfaction,  because, 
in  all  these  things  that  she  cared  for,  she  could  have  no 
part,  for  she  was  "  only  a  girl " ;  and  now  the  door  was 
all  at  once  opened,  and  she  stood  outside  of  tradition, 
and  knew  that  what  God  put  in  her  to  love,  God  set  her 
to  do.  In  the  joyful  new  consciousness  of  her  birth 
right,  she  felt  her  eyes  again  and  again  fill  with  tears. 
Her  heart  throbbed  with7- longing  to  find  her  clew,  and 
begin  at  once  the  work  for  which  she  had  thirsted  so 
long.  Just  then  she  was  startled  at  seeing  Charley  drag 
his  immense  silk-handkerchief  ostentatiously  from  his 
pocket,  and  duck  his  head  as  if  to  sneeze. 

Now  if  they  had  walked  through  the  snow  instead  of 
riding  in  state;  or  if  the  audience  had  been  rough,  and 
smelled  of  beer  and  dish-water,  rather  than  ylang-ylang 
and  bouquet ;  or  if  the  atmosphere  had  been  chilly,  not 
tempered  to  the  utmost  nicety  of  steam  horizontal  pipe- 
heating — it  might  have  been  necessary  to  sneeze ;  but 
under  the  circumstances  it  struck  her  as  singularly  out 
of  taste. 

"  I'm  some  on  sternutation,"  whispered  he  confiden 
tially. 

"  O  Charley,  don't !  "  she  implored,  catching  hold  of 
him,  "  for  pity's  sake  don't." 

This  attracted  Peace's  attention.  "  Have  the  kindness 
to  behave  yourself  if  you  know  how,"  said  she,  sharply. 

"  I  wish  I  hadn't  come,"  complained  Francis  Hay- 
thorne,  miserably  sure  that  something  wicked  had  called 
up  the  innocent  expression  adorning  the  face  of  the 
handsome  scapegrace. 

Charley  overheard,  and  catching  the  gentleman's  anx 
ious  eye,  laid  his  finger  under  his  nose  in  marked  attempt 
at  suppressing  the  intruder — alas !  without  avail.  Out 


406  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

it  came;  not  one,  but  two,  three,  four, — each  like  a 
thunder  clap — the  sufferer  bowing  himself  to  the  work, 
and  apparently  feeling  intense  mortification. 

If  there  was  anything  Mrs.  Pelican  feared,  it  was 
taking  cold.  She  said  it  always  located  in  the  back  of  her 
neck,  and  inj  ured  her  comfort  for  weeks ;  and  she  whis 
pered  to  Peace  that  she  knew  she  felt  a  draft  on  her 
left  cheek,  and  immediately  began  coughing  and  sneezing 
herself,  each  effort  being  extremely  violent,  and  the 
accompanying  noise  ludicrously  small. 

Aroused  by  these  demonstrations,  a  woman  in  the  seat 
behind  observed  that  if  she  had  supposed  the  night  so 
damp  she  should  not  have  brought  Freddy — a  delicate- 
looking  child  with  black  circles  around  its  eyes — and 
soon  after,  becoming  alarmed,  she  rose  and  left  with  him, 
he  holding  back  and  wailing  feebly  the  whole  way  out. 

This  was  the  signal  for  the  audience  to  commence 
shivering  and  coughing,  led  off  by  a  little  black-and-tan 
terrier  dog,  who  emerged  from  concealment  under  the 
petticoats  of  two  extremely  pretty  girls.  The  young 
ladies  looked  daggers  at  our  party,  and  the  orator,  who 
could  not  avoid  noticing  the  disturbance,  finally  became 
a  victim  to  the  epidemic,  and  sniffed  in  concert. 

Meanwhile,  the  originator  of  the  trouble  sat  serenely 
chuckling,  till  a  forbidding  person  in  black — the  exact 
illustration  of  the  popular  notion  of  woman's  rights — 
turned  round,  and  offered  him  three  nicked  pepper  loz 
enges,  with  the  sour  remark  that  they  were  good  for 
gripes  in  the  throat ;  whereupon,  after  a  parting  effort, 
Charley  enveloped  his  face  in  his  handkerchief,  and  went 
humbly  down  to  the  billiard-room  below.  .  .  . 

In  spite  of  this  little  episode,  Mollie  and  the  house 
hold  kept  the  run  of  the  argument  in  the  charming  talk, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  407 

and  even  Mrs.  Pelican  resumed  her  furs,  and  sat  melted 
as  in  a  furnace  for  the  pleasure  of  hearing  the  whole. 

After  the  lecture  the  party  went  behind  the  scenes,  and 
were  introduced  to  Silver  Tongue,  whom  they  found  sur 
rounded  by  a  bevy  of  admirers. 

"  I  never  wanted  to  vote  before,  but  now  I  do,"  said 
Mrs.  Pelican,  the  omnipotent  Grundy  forgotten  in  enthu 
siasm. 

"  Haw!  haw!  haw!  "  snorted  an  individual  fresh  from 
the  Cereus'  hospitable  doors,  with  added  sense  of  the 
weight  of  the  masculine  dignity  as  manifested  by  diffi 
culty  in  keeping  its  lodging  house  off  from  the  floor. 
"  I  s'pose  you'll  ave-to — angels  oughth  do  er  (hie)  do 
as  they  pleash."  Charley's  eyes  were  fixed  on  Mr.  Giz 
zard,  with  an  expression  too  ominous  for  even  his  befud 
dled  brains  to  ignore,  and  Francis  Haythorne  carried 
Peace  off  directly. 

"  I  don't  know  as  I'm  right,"  said  Mr.  Phillips,  care 
ful  and  gentle  in  assisting  Mrs.  Pelican  down  the  slippery 
stairs ;  then  pausing  a  moment  in  the  street  to  finish  his 
sentence — "  I  may  not  be,  but  it  will  set  you  thinking." 

Is  there  any  better  mission  in  this  world  than  to  set 
people's  minds  at  work  ?  No  doubt  but  what  he'd  ac 
complished  it  here.  That  night  the  dispute  waxed  hot  in 
the  family  mansion — the  gentlemen  making  common 
cause  against  their  indefatigable  adversaries,  old  Mr. 
Pelican  intrenching  himself  in  the  high  ground  of  conju 
gal  obedience,  and  his  wife  pursuing  a  kind  of  feminine 
buccaneerism,  wherein  she  demolished  whichever  side  she 
found  open  to  attack. 

They  began  very  grandly,  Francis  Haythorne  remark 
ing  that  it  was  folly  to  talk  about  things  so  exactly  con 
trary  to  the  process  of  nature.  Men  came  to  maturity 
five  years  later  than  women,  and  lived  that  much  longer. 


408  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

Supposing,  then,  that  they  kept  up  with  each  other  till 
the  feminine  possibilities  of  growth  were  exhausted  in 
that  added  golden  five  years,  the  male  mind  would  incon- 
testably  prove  its  superiority. 

Mollie  asked,  dryly,  when  that  invahiable  period  began. 

"When  the  young  lady  leaves  school,  she  stops  grow 
ing,"  said  her  antagonist. 

"  That's  the  very  time  when  she  makes  first  acquaint 
ance  with  young  men,"  said  Peace,  pointedly. 

"  Then  boys  are  sowing  their  wild  oats  ;  they  begin  to 
improve  again  by  and  by,"  retorted  Charley,  drawing  on 
experience.  "  Who  ever  heard  of  a  woman's  improving?  " 

"  You  mean  that  as  long  as  they  are  under  the  same 
circumstances  they  do  the  same  thing,  and  that  altering 
the  conditions,  the  results  differ,"  put  in  Mollie. 

"  Why  should  women  want  to  don  breeks  and  leave 
the  humble  sphere  where  God  placed  them  ?  Now,  when 
ladies  run  the  country  post-offices,  the  men  can  do 
nothing  but  lounge  in  liquor  dens  and  be  ruined,"  said 
Mr.  Haythorne.  "  It  impoverishes  the  country." 

"  Poor  things,"  retorted  Peace,  sneeringly,  "  why  don't 
they  leave  their  natural  sphere  and  go  to  work,  driving 
engines  and  doing  the  hard  labor  they  were  made  for. 
The  fact  is,  they  accuse  women  of  being  quite  inefficient 
in  order  that  they  may  take  their  places,  and  be  as  nearly 
so  themselves  as  bread  and  butter  getting  will  admit." 

"  How  absurd  for  a  male  political  economist  to  talk 
about  reducing  the  number  of  unproductive  consumers, 
and  making  all  producers,  rendering  a  people  poor  !  " 
remarked  Mollie. 

"  You  wouldn't  vote,  would  you  ?  "  said  Mr.  Pelican, 
surveying  her  with  parental  anxiety. 

"  Yes,  indeed  she  will,"  interfered  Peace,  forced  out 
of  her  inborn  conservatism  by  inward  fret.  "  If  women 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  409 

would  only  listen  to  the  stump  speeches,  their  perpetra 
tors  wouldn't  have  to  be  held  upon  the  balcony  by  their 
coat  tails,  too  drunk  to  stand  alone  ;  nor  would  courts  of 
justice  be  such  ill-spoken  holes,  if  women  were  there." 

"  Hush,"  said  Charley,  "  let  Mollie  speak." 

"  Do  you  want  to  know  ?  "  said  she,  quietly.  "  If  the 
time  ever  comes  when  I  can  go  as  a  woman  with  papa, 
and  vote  for  them  that  have  rule  over  me,  I  shall  be  very 
glad  ;  and  I  am  even  disposed  to  push  the  matter  a  little, 
and  clamor  for  room  to  exercise  that  duty." 

"  Pshaw !  "  said  the  young  man,  disappointed ;  and  then, 
noticing  the  rising  color  in  Mollie's  face,  "  I  mean — I 
hoped—" 

"  You  needn't  say,"  interrupted  his  mother ;  "  you 
know  very  well  how  angry  you  were  when  I  heard  how 
you  kept  open  shop  last  election,  and  I  haven't  forgotten 
that  Peace  cried  all  night  because  three  of  Mollie's  Sun 
day-school  scholars  went  to  that  horrible  jail,  every  one 
drunk  on  your  liquor,  served  out  at  the  corner  grocery. 
Now  if  you'd  known  Mollie'd  be  on  hand  you  wouldn't 
have  done  it." 

"  What  do  you  want  to  accomplish,  Mollie  ?  Haven't 
you  rights  enough?  "  asked  Mr.  Pelican. 

"  I  want  to  have  the  world's  permission  to  follow  out 
the  instincts  toward  labor  I  feel  in  myself.  I  want  to 
work  for  my  race." 

"  You'll  never  get  that  to  do  anything,"  said  Peace,  bit 
terly  ;  "  nobody  has  a  right  to  do  an  act  not  stereotyped, 
till  after  it  has  been  successfully  accomplished,  and  after 
that  one  is  not  allowed  to  stop.  I  have  no  element  of  suc 
cess,"  she  added,  restless  and  self-depreciating  as  always. 

"  It  is  absurd  to  think  we  study,  investigate,  or  create 
for  the  world,"  said  Francis  Haythorne.     "At  best  we 
labor  for  the  trifling  coterie  whose  proximity  is  immedi- 
18 


410  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

ate,  and  whose  tastes  run  with  our  own.  To  every  one 
else  our  work,  if  known  at  all,  is  foolishness ;  and  our 
beacon-light  a  bubble  of  marsh  gas." 

"  It's  a  stumbling-blodk  to  the  Jews,  too,  isn't  it  ?  "  sug 
gested  Mollie. 

"  That's  why  you  refrain  from  embarking  in  any,  I 
suppose,"  said  Charley,  pseudo  thoughtfully  ;  "  heretofore 
my  principle  has  been  the  same." 

"  Well,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Haythorne,  out  of  temper, 
"  I  hope  there'll  be  some  place  left  to  men,  where 
women  won't  come  tagging  after  them,  a  perfect  nuisance 
— everywhere  a  restraint." 

"  Go  on,"  cried  Peace,  scintillating  with  delight  at  his 
discomfiture,  "  go  on ;  you  want  one  spot  at  least  where 
you  can  be  as  indecorous  as  you  like." 

"  I  do,"  retorted  he.  "  I  think  it's  a  shame  women 
will  be  in  every  dish.  Men  don't  want  to  be  compelled 
into  eternal  effeminacy  by  their  presence ;  made  so 
pure  and  sweet,  they  are  good  enough  to  sit  in  the  parlor 
all  the  time." 

"  That's  true,"  agreed  Mr.  Pelican.  "  Men  must  be 
men ;  they've  a  right  to  be." 

"  Do  you  propose  to  carry  your  smoking-car  and  elec 
tioneering  habits  into  heaven,  as  the  essence  of  the  mas 
culine  prerogative?"  asked  Peace,  looking  provokingly 
beautiful.  "  I  supposed  a  gentleman  to  be  a  gentleman 
everywhere.  A  new  light  breaks  on  me  when  I  find  the 
germs  of  your  superior  strength,  intellect  and  manhood 
in  the  dirty  talk,  gambling,  and  drinking  in  which  you 
admit  you  indulge,  as  a  class,  in  your  chosen  retreats." 

"  I  don't  admit  it !  I  never  do  an  ungentlemanly 
thing  anywhere  ;  but  I  don't  want  it  fixed  so  I  can't  if  I 
like  ;  "  this  in  increasing  heat. 

"  I  wonder,"  put  in  Mollie,  "  if  Christ,  whose  superior- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  41 1 

ity  I  am  content  to  acknowledge,  would  have  been  the 
prime  favorite  of  political  suppers,  clubs  and  bar-rooms. 
I  supposed  the  truest  man  was  the  most  like  Him.  If  the 
sexes  are  of  so  different  a  nature  I  am  perplexed  that  He 
didn't  live  twice, — once  for  our  pattern,  once  for  yours." 

"  Pretty  opinions  for  a  church  member,  Mr.  Pelican," 
said  his  wife,  taking  off  her  glasses  and  wiping  them,  the 
better  to  look  him  out  of  countenance. 

"  No  such  thing,"  he  returned  ;  "  what  women  think  in 
delicate  isn't.  Women's  standards  and  men's  differ." 

"  Mine  is  John  the  Baptist,"  remarked  Peace.  "  I 
don't  call  to  mind  any  of  his  acquaintance  who  objected  to 
his  ideas,  except  Herod." 

Mollie  interrupted  a  retort  to  this  piece  of  insolence  by 
saying,  haughtily,  "  You  are  much  mistaken,  Mr.  Pelican, 
if  you  think  I  or  any  true  woman  would  wish  to  thrust 
herself  unbidden  into  your  company.  We  have  a  right 
to  follow  to  perfection  any  gift  God  has  endowed  us  with, 
and  if  He  don't  give  us  any  talents  for  your  favorite  pro 
fessions,  then  we  have  no  right  there.  As  for  hard  work, 
no  one  has  ever  denied  woman  that.  If  anything  more 
fatiguing  than  washing,  and  house  cleaning,  and  cooking 
can  be  invented,  mention  it.  It  is  not  harder  to  tend  engine 
than  kitchen  range,  or  to  run  a  telegraph  machine  than 
to  polish  windows,  or  to  keep  books  than  to  carry  on  a 
laundry.  I  never  heard  that  women  desired  to  be  con 
ductors  of  cars,  or  sailors,  or  soldiers,  or  even  artisans  in 
metals  and  heavy  manufactures.  That  they  are  already 
represented  in  every  possible  employment,  has  been  the 
unnoticed  result  of  agitation ;  and  let  the  men  produce 
something  else  and  give  us  two  sources  of  wealth  in 
stead  of  one.  No !  you  are  angry  that  genteel  employ 
ment  is  now  pronounced  feminine,  and  your  soft  woman 
ish  muscles  must  ache  in  your  necessitated  use  of  your 


412  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

vaunted  strength.  For  the  rest  woman  should  be  sought, 
not  seeking — ("  Long  Branch  and  Saratoga,"  interpolated 
Charley,)  "  in  matters  of  society  ;  and  if  there  is  a  differ 
ence  of  necessity  in  the  moral  elevation  of  the  sexes,  clergy 
men's  seminaries,  medical  schools,  courts  of  justice,  and 
the  elections  of  our  rulers,  are  not  places  to  give  play  to 
those  passions  which  all  condemn,  however  they  may  yield 
to  them.  These  are  sacred  spots,  and  to  confess  your 
selves  sinners  against  right,  is  only  acknowledging  in 
capacity."  She  rose  and  swept  away,  earnest,  and  bat 
tling  inwardly  with  her  theme.  The  party  broke  up  at 
her  exit,  to  unite  next  day  at  precisely  the  point  of  sep 
aration. 

The  breakfast-table  is  the  axle  about  which  every  well- 
regulated  family  revolves.  There  it  is  that  the  doings  of 
yesterday  and  the  labors  of  to-day  are  brought  under  dis 
cussion.  The  family  life  is  concentrated  about  its  tea-pots 
and  coffee-urns.  Mines  as  sprung  from  behind  its  toast 
racks.  Calamities  are  first  made  tangible  and  blessings 
appreciated  in  the  household  reveille  it  sounds. 

This  must  be  our  apology  for  making  mention  of  so 
common  an  episode  as  eating,  with  such  frequency.  It 
seems  to  me  that  if  the  story-teller  should  attempt  to  give 
his  adventures  unconnected  with  this  natural  rallying 
point,  his  hero  would  inevitably  be  a  Monte  Christo  or 
Jack  Shepherd,  and  his  heroine  a  Mathilde  or  Becky 
Sharp. 

It  was  at  the  breakfast-table,  then,  that  Charley  pro 
pounded  a  question  which  he  stated  as  the  "  Elevation 
of  women  and  niggers," — a  possibility  which  his  father 
denied  so  vehemently,  that  he  forgot  himself,  and  emptied 
his  cup  into  the  sugar-bowl,  under  the  idea  that  he  was 
sweetening  his  tea.  Adjourned  to  the  library  for  prayers, 
they  began  to  say  their  verses. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  413 

"  God  made  man  pure,  but  he  sought  out  many  strange 
inventions,"  began  the  old  gentleman,  with  a  severe  look 
at  Peace,  who  had  been  very  unmanageable. 

"  Green  bass  wood,"  suggested  Charley,  recalling  a 
speculation  of  his  father's. 

"  The  man  is  the  head  of  the  woman,"  continued 
Francis  Haythome,  likewise  glancing  at  the  young  lady. 

"  The  fool  is  wiser  in  his  own  eyes  than  seven  men 
that  can  render  a  reason,"  said  Mrs.  Pelican,  by  way  of 
general  application. 

"  Speak  not  in  the  ears  of  a  fool,  for  he  shall  despise 
the  wisdom  of  thy  words,"  retorted  Peace. 

"  What  have  you  got  to  say,  Mollie  ?  "  asked  Charley, 
seeing  her  hesitate. 

"  A  blessing,"  responded  she,  wearily  :  "  and  last  of  all, 
the  woman  died  also." 

After  that  Mrs.  Pelican  began,  (t  Here  I'll  raise  my 
Ebenezer,"  as  a  last  effort  toward  restoring  sobriety  to  her 
household.  And  Mr.  Pelican,  worsted  in  the  conflict, 
took  his  revenge  by  praying  that  God  would  open  the 
blind  eyes,  and  give  to  all  wholesome  submission  to  them 
that  He  had  appointed  to  have  rule  over  them. 

But  Peace  squared  this  by  quoting,  in  airy  but  audible 
aside  to  Mollie,  as  they  rose  from  their  knees,  "  If  a 
wise  man  contend  with  a  fool,  whether  he  rage  or  laugh, 
there  is  no  rest," — which  being  delivered  in  an  impersonal 
way,  stung  without  possibility  of  answer. 

The  household  were  no  sooner  scattered  to  the  day's  oc 
cupations,  than  Charley  and  his  sister,  left  alone  together, 
had  another  passage  of  arms.  The  excitement  of  the 
evening  before  had  somewhat  unsettled  the  family  tem 
per,  and  Peace  was  doing  worsted  work  of  a  very  jerky 
pattern  in  an  appropriate  style. 

"It's  not  true  that  women  have  the  hardest  time," 


414:  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

cried  Charley,  sourly.  "They  always  live  the  longest. 
Top  Town's  half  full  of  widows  this  minute." 

"  You've  done  your  shave  in  killing  their  husbands," 
was  his  sister's  tart  reply ;  "  you'd  best  say  as  little  as 
possible  about  that." 

1  hen  ensued  a  pause,  during  which  one  whistled,  and 
the  other  angrily  pulled  her  worsted  from  the  ball  on  the 
tloor.  "  I  thought  father  was  talking  about  giving  up 
.Dices'  Water  Casks,"  recommenced  Peace. 

'  I  don't  see  why  you  should  be  so  mean  to  a  feller," 
sai*  •:  Charley,  lifting  the  mahogany  rocking-chair  to  the 
eei  -ug  by  the  extreme  end  of  its  left  rocker,  and  balanc 
ing  it  there  a  minute  or  two  to  soothe  his  feelings.  "  Yon 
spe  d  the  money ;  what's  the  dif  so  long  as  you  get  it  ? 
If  vather  hadn't  gone  into  distilling,  we  should  have 
sh/j,  aed  it  all  our  lives,  instead  of  riding  in  state."  The 
brother  and  sister  had  not  been  growing  in  concord  during 
tho  last  few  weeks.  Peace,  who  having  once  taken  hope 
of  Absalom,  directly  administered  reproof,  advice,  and 
moral  sentiments  in  bushels,  met  with  irritated  denial 
and  jeers  at  every  trial.  Charley  seemed  to  have  become 
a  sort  of  unbelieving  porcupine,  with  quills  out.  He 
flaunted  every  sort  of  law-subverting  doctrine  in  the  faces 
of  his  family ;  and,  while  pursuing  strictly  his  newly 
entered  path  of  rectitude,  tried  to  make  himself  out  a  sort 
of  budding  Don  Juan,  Bonnet  Rouge,  Aaron  Burr,  Ket- 
chem.  As  a  sample  of  his  doings,  he  bought  a  picture 
of  Ben  Butler,  whom  he  announced  to  be  his  ideal  states 
man,  which  he  carried  in  his  vest  pocket,  and  frequently 
ogled  with  an  amorous  air  when  Peace  was  in  seeing  dis 
tance. 

"  I  wish  we  did  go  afoot,"  cried  Peace  passionately ; 
«'  we  should  at  least  be  honest." 

"  Honesty  is  the  best  of  policies,"  said  Charley  non- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  415 

chalantly.  "  That's  what  I  told  the  fire  insurance,  when 
I  applied  father's  premium  to  my  own  private  necessities. 
You  aren't  sensible  to  quarrel  with  your  bread  and  but 
ter.  It's  all  very  well  to  talk  cold-water  nonsense,  but 
liquor  buys  every  one  of  the  rags  you  flaunt  in  ;  even  the 
money  you  waste  on  your  unwashed  savages  at  Patience 
of  Hope,  comes  from  the  till  of  the  Night  Blooming 
Cereus." 

"  Seems  as  if  every  cent  of  it  was  a  curse  to  them," 
flashed  Peace. 

"  Very  likely,"  said  Charley,  bearing  on  as  men  will ; 
"  that  only  proves  the  fact.  Why,  the  money  father 
gave  you  this  morning  is  what  young  Gizzard's  mother 
paid  with  tears  in  her  eyes  the  week  before  he  hung  him 
self,  and  his  father's  going  the  same  way.  We  were  fools 
to  let  them  run  on  so.  They'll  never  be  good  for  another 
dollar."  He  gave  the  information  with  gusto,  and  smiled 
as  the  spider  might  smile  on  the  fly.  At  least  Peace 
thought  so. 

"  Then  I  won't  touch  a  cent  of  it,"  she  cried  indig 
nantly.  "  The  girls  were  getting  up  a  subscription  for 
the  Gizzards  last  week.  They  asked  Mollie  to  contribute, 
but  never  said  a  word  to  rne.  If  the  rum-seller's  daughter 
can't  be  charitable,  she  can  at  least  be  just.  I'll  pay 
every  penny  back  to  Mrs.  Gizzard  to-morrow." 

"  Do,"  said  Charley,  sardonically,  "  you  couldn't  offer 
a  better  advertisement  for  the  Cereus.  The  generous 
gambler  that  befriends  his  dupe,  always  gets  double  the 
money  out  of  his  reputation." 

It  was  so.  She  was  hedged  in,  cursed  in  her  basket, 
cursed  in  her  store;  cursed  in  outgoing,  cursed  in  incom 
ing  ;  and  cursed  most  of  all,  as  she  felt  to  her  heart's  core, 
in  this  her  brother.  She  sprang  to  her  feet,  hot  and  de 
fiant.  "  I  hate  you,"  she  exclaimed.  "  I  wish  I  was 


416  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

dead — I  wish  you — everybody  was  dead  !  I'll  leave  the 
house,  teach  school,  set  type,  be  a  dress-maker!  I've 
borne  this  long  enough.  If  I  can't  live  honestly,  I'll 
starve." 

Instead  of  replying  in  kind,  Charley  straightened  him 
self,  and  looked  down  at  her  with  sympathetic  admiration. 
"  You're  a  good  girl,"  said  he  approvingly,  and  continued 
to  feast  his  eyes  on  her  indignant  face.  Then,  as  she  in 
turn  stood  surveying  him  in  something  like  terror  at  this 
sudden  reversal  of  tactics,  he  came  over  and  took  her 
in  his  arms,  and  kissed  her.  "  My  poor  sister  !  "  said  he, 
tender,  and  suddenly  manifesting  a  gentle,  strong  phase  of 
soil!,  new  in  ii.e  insstable  pleasure  lover.  "How  cruel  to 
torture  you  cury  to  torment  myself!  No  !  Peace,  you 
are  not  to  go  away — at  least  not  yet.  I  have  taken  my 
resolution.  It  is  I  who  am  to  leave  Top  Town — very 
soon." 

A  woman  adores  manhood,  strength.  She  humbles  her 
self  before  it  instinctively.  She  will  render  up  every 
prerogative  joyfully,  if  only  to  teach  her  dear  ones  to 
manifest,  prize,  their  power.  Charley  was  never  so  noble 
in  his  sister's  eyes,  as  when  he  asserted  claim  to  his  man's 
right  to  a  self-denial  as  costly  as  needful.  She  laid  her 
hand  on  his  broad  shoulder  with  pride,  and  waited 
silently  to  hear  him  out. 

"  All  you've  said  is  true,  dear.  If  you  can  think  it, 
I  ought  at  least  to  act  on  it.  I  am  going  out  West  to 
start  again,  to  make  a  new  life  for  myself, — to  be  clear  of 
the  liquor  trade,  and  work  for  my  bread.  I  didn't  think 
I  could  make  up  my  mind,  but  I'm  quite  settled  now. 
And  when  I'm  successful,  just  a  little  successful,  I'll 
bring  you  to  live  with  me,  and  we'll  have  a  happy  time. 
I  don't  know  exactly  what  I  shall  do  for  a  living, — you 
remember  '  non  palrna  sine  pulvere,'  which  being  inter- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  417 

preted  is,  no    hand   not  dirty,"  he  added  with  a  rueful 
smile. 

"  I've  been  dreadfully  mean  to  you,  Charley,"  sobbed 
Peace,  taking  refuge  in  the  window-curtains.  "  I  wish  I 
hadn't.  You  wouldn't  have  acted  so  if  I  had  done  my 
duty,  and  pitied  your  little  failings ;  and  now  you're  good, 
and  I  wasn't  in  it." 

Her  brother  was  full  of  emotion  too,  but  he  couldn't 
help  walking  the  elephant  toward  her,  and  then  she  made 
a  little  airy  kick  at  him,  as  she  wiped  away  her  tears ; 
and  he  caught  the  liliputian  weapon,  and  gallantly 
kissed  the  toe  of  its  embroidered  slipper  ;  and  now  at  last 
they  were  very  happy  together  in  this  first  union  of  heart 
and  purpose. 

And  so,  just  as  Peace  gained  her  brother,  she  parted 
from  him,  not  that  moment  exactly,  but  a  few  weeks  after, 
when,  almost  against  his  father's  direct  prohibition,  he 
started  for  the  frontier. 

Old  Mr.  Pelican  couldn't  see  why,  as  long  as  Charley 
had  reformed,  he  wouldn't  stay  home,  and  take  charge 
of  the  Cereus ;  and  his  mother  cried  most  of  the  time  at 
the  thought  of  the  temptations  to  which  he  would  be  ex 
posed  away  from  the  paternal  roof,  forgetful  of  the  follies 
against  which  it  had  been  no  protection. 

But  Peace  and  Mollie  made  common  cause,  and  fought 
it  through,  and  the  sister  came  out  in  her  new  role 
gloriously,  and  was  so  delightful,  so  sweet,  so  tender,  that 
the  poor  fellow  wondered  why  they  had  never  found  each 
other  out  before,  and,  in  his  desolate  foreshadowing 
of  friendlessness  and  hardship,  most  of  all  regretted  that 
he  must  leave  her  affection  behind. 
18* 


418  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

"  This  is  the  man  all  tattered  and  torn, 
That  loved  the  maiden  all  forlorn." 

:OLLIE  was  sitting  alone,  thinking. 

In  this  story  of  her  inner  life,  dealing  with 
her  almost  always  in  times  of  misfortune  and 
misery,  it  may  have  seemed  as  if  she  was  one  of  those 
melancholy  people  who  have  a  subdued  and  piteous  ap 
pearance,  like  half-dried  tear-blots.  But  this  is  not  so. 
Whatever  might  be  her  burdens,  they  were  so  little  ob 
truded  on  her  friends  that  the  latter  had  the  habit  of 
considering  her  a  singularly  happy  person,  and  bringing 
all  their  trials  to  her  sympathy.  It  is  true,  except  when 
roused  to  combat  for  some  oppressed  class  or  darling 
theory,  she  talked  little,  and  even  tliat  little  was  too 
thoughtful  to  be  reckoned  brilliant.  But  she  had  her 
delicate  soul-feelers,  always  alert  to  cognize  the  moods, 
passions,  principles,  of  her  acquaintance  ;  and  a  kind  heart 
moulded  the  knowledge  into  that  subtle,  inestimable  tact 
that  is  better  than  wit,  wisdom,  or  beauty  to  its  pos 
sessor.  Moreover  she  loved  and  sought  goodness  stead 
fastly  through  all,  and  so  had  whereupon  to  be  always 
cheery,  and  a  wholesome  companion.  In  her  suffering 
days  she  locked  herself  up,  and  waged  battle  alone  and 
unflinching. 

On  this  occasion  she  had  plenty  to  muse  over. 
Charley  had  just  gone.  He  had  held  his  own  bravely  to 
the  end.  The  evening  before  his  departure  he  spent  with 
his  family  at  a  church  festival,  where  he  beguiled  the 
time  by  presenting  the  girls  with  gum  shellac  as  candy, 
lifting  his  male  acquaintance  with  one  hand,  and  placard- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  419 

ing  his  father  "Beware  of  Pickpockets," — in  which  guise 
the  unconscious  old  gentleman  strutted  rJbont  with  extra 
ordinary  dignity.  Then,  finding  that  it  rained,  he  slipped 
into  the  dressing-i-oom,  and  opened  every  single  umbrella, 
placing  them  extended  in  battalions,  and  thus  producing 
a  singular  effect  on  the  owners  at  goirig-hoine  time,  when 
the  chosen  young  ladies  stood  indignantly  waiting  the  ar 
rival  of  their  perplexed  escorts. 

Lastly,  he  hung  his  Ben  Butler  photograph,  neatly 
framed,  and  lettered,  "  St.  Benjamin,"  in  the  Sunday- 
school  room,  side  by  side  with  the  remainder  of  the  holy 
pictures  calculated  to  instruct  the  youthful  mind. 

And  next  morning  the  household  saw  him  off  on  the 
cars,  and  retiring  thereafter  to  their  respective  bedrooms, 
appeared  no  more  during  the  day.  With  all  their  faults 
the  Pelicans  were  a  family,  and  joyed  and  loved  and 
suffered  with  generous  heartiness.  Mollie  was  glad  to 
have  it  so.  It  comforted  her  to  be  able  to  be  sorry  with 
them.  She  had  received  her  first  letter  from  her  mother 
a  few  minutes  before.  She  skimmed  it  through  once,  re 
read,  and  then  crumpled  and  threw  it  down  with  a  sigh, 
as  if  she  would  willingly  have  crushed  the  thoughts  it 
called  up,  with  their  cause.  Ye  lovers  of  precious  home 
epistles,  who  have  known  "  mother's  words  "  God's  best 
help  in  your  trials,  see  what  Mollie  was  feeding  on — 

"  MY  DEAR  CHILD  : — I  have  at  last  found  courage  to 
clean  up  after  you,  and  am  now  sick  in  consequence. 
Your  father,  however,  don't  seem  to  care  for  that  any 
more  than  other  folks.  I  don't  see  why  you  should  have 
bamboozled  him  into  buying  those  sleeve-buttons.  He 
works  day  and  night  to  earn  money  for  you  to  fool  away. 
Mr.  Brown  hasn't  been  here  since  you  left,  but  once,  when 
he  leaned  against  the  garden  gate,  and  admired  my  Vesu- 


420  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

vius  colored  jacket,  and  hat  with  the  Paree  brulay  and 
Paree  on  sond  roses.  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  have 
lost  such  a  man.  You'll  go  all  through  the  wood,  and  take 
up  with  a  crooked  stick  at  last.  But  you  were  born  to  be 
a  bill  of  expense,  and  your  own  perversity  will  prevent 
any  one's  bearing  it  but  your  parents.  I  hope  I  shan't 
die  in  the  poor-house  through  your  selfishness. 

"  Be  very  careful  of  your  complexion,  and  always  wear  a 
veil  when  you  go  out.  Don't  put  on  your  black  silk  if 
you  can  help  it, — it  is  too  good,  Be  sure  and  attend 
prayer-meeting  regularly ;  there  are  some  fine  young  men 
in  the  Top  Town  Congregational  Church.  Three  cents  is 
quite  enough  to  offer  in  the  contribution  box  at  a  time. 
*  And  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you.' 

"  Your  suffering  mother, 

"  MIRANDA  McCnoss." 

But  besides  these  excellent  subjects  for  cogitation, 
Mollie  had  another  nearer,  and  deeper  still.  She  was 
going  to  the  prison  to  see  Louis.  "Would  she  find  him 
sick,  or  dying,  or  crazed  ?  Could  she  comfort  him  ?  or 
had  she  waited  too  long,  and  was  he  beyond  all  comfort  ? 
Had  she  wronged  him  by  that  promise  to  her  father  ? 
She  could  not  tell.  It  was  a  long  time  since  they  had 
parted  in  the  bitterness  of  their  affliction.  It  would  be 
longer  yet  before  they  could  claim  each  other  for  the 
forever.  Mollie  did  not  look  ahead.  One  day,  and  then 
another,  not  all  at  once,  or  she  would  lie  down  and  die. 
She  didn't  want  to  lose  her  life,  and  so  her  chance  of 
helping  him. 

She  took  some  dresses  from  the  closet,  and  spreading 
them  on  the  bed,  sat  down,  chin  in  hand,  to  contemplate 
them.  She  had  lost  the  plump  beauty  of  early  woman- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  42! 

hood,  and  seemed  almost  too  fragile  for  humanity.  But 
her  face,  glorified  in  its  sweetness  and  strength,  colorless 
and  pure,  looked  akin  to  the  cherished  Christ  over  the 
mantel.  She  might  not  have  been  beautiful  to  a  stranger, 
but  she  \vas  beautiful  to  me,  who  held  her  dear. 

She  was  thinking  that  in  all  their  years  of  coming  sepa 
ration  she  would  fain  be  lovely  in  Louis'  eyes. 

These  dresses  were  like  Mollie :  a  blue  merino,  with 
dainty  black  velvet  vest;  the  silk  over  which  her  mother 
mourned ;  a  white  muslin  evening  costume,  with  satin 
bodice ;  arid  last  of  all  a  cashmere  of  rosy  dove  color, 
that  shaded  dark  and  rich  in  its  graceful  folds — not  very 
many  or  striking,  but  every  one  characteristic  of  its 
wearer,  and  perfect  in  conception. 

She  looked  them  over  thoughtfully.  Of  course  they 
weren't  all  appropriate,  but  she  would  bring  the  best  out 
for  choice ;  she  only  liked  them  becaxise  he  would  have 
admired  her  in  them.  Her  thoughts  were  all  for  him. 

The  little  Java  sparrow  chirped  with  melancholy  in 
terest  from  his  Chinese  pagoda,  carved  long  before  with 
his  donor's  jack-knife.  Some  flitting  memory  made  the 
young  girl  smile,  and  she  selected  the  gray  robe  without 
more  reflection,  and  arrayed  therein,  with  the  scarlet  vel 
vet  ribbons  hanging  from  her  neck,  stood  the  very  coun 
terpart  of  her  little  pet. 

She  knelt  a  moment  before  the  quaint  cage  as  a  sort  of 
shrine.  Her  Bible  opened  to  its  old  place  :  "  They  that 
wait  on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength."  The  page 
was  worn  and  faded  with  continual  touch.  Mollie  bent 
over  it  silently  a  few  moments,  and  then  closed  it  upon 
her  doubts  and  fears,  and  putting  on  her  dove-colored 
hat,  and  cloak,  and  gray  furs,  took  up  a  well-filled  basket, 
and  knocked  at  Peace's  door. 

Peace  regarded  this  expedition  in  the  light  of  a  peni- 


422  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

tential  pilgrimage.  As  she  told  Mr.  Haytliorne  confi 
dentially,  she  had  rather  be  liung  than  go,  though  go  she 
would  ;  and  she  had  been  banging  doors,  and  anathema 
tizing  pins,  and  stamping  at  her  cuffs  and  hat — which 
little  indications  of  a  mind  at  variance  with  itself  worried 
Mollie  to  desperation.  The  truth  was,  Miss  Pelican 
ought  to  have  seen  Louis  before.  During  the  whole  twelve 
months  and  more  of  his  incarceration,  she  had  been  about 
to  perform  that  duty  next  week.  In  fact,  this  was  the  in 
tention  of  all  his  friends — to  the  end  of  the  first  year — 
when  they  concluded  that  if  he'd  stood  it  without  them 
so  long,  he  certainly  could  the  rest  of  the  time,  and  set 
conscience  at  rest  without  longer  delay. 

During  their  whole  acquaintance  Francis  Haythorne 
had  never  addressed  a  remark  to  Mollie  about  Louis. 
But  Peace  had  learned,  in  her  brother's  dreary  struggle 
for  hope,  to  seek  a  confidant,  who,  out  of  his  unruffled 
placidity,  was  always  ready  to  supplement  her  needs  by 
quiet,  easily  rendered  helps,  or  willing  burden-bearing. 
In  that  short  three  months  she  had  almost  forgotten  to 
ask  sympathy  of  Mollie,  and  went  by  instinct  (and  in 
stinct  is  always  the  impulse  toward  pleasure)  to  repose 
cares,  griefs,  joys,  and  experiences,  with  a  child's  sim 
plicity,  in  his  consciousness. 

He  was,  therefore,  well  advised  of  the  impending  trip  ; 
and  quite  as  much  to  please  Peace  as  Mollie  (whose 
character  for  common-sense  had  declined  daily  in  his  es 
teem),  waited  for  the  prisoner's  fiancee  as  she  passed 
through  the  hall. 

Her  complete  possession  by  this  ill-starred  love  seemed 
poorly  judged,  in  the  light  of  certain  late  possibilities  re 
lating  to  the  wealthy  and  still  juvenile  choleric  neighbor 
— whom  Mollie  refused  even  to  see  in  his  frequent  visits. 
Having  lost  her  chance  of  winning  himself,  the  probability 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  423 

of  eternal  singleness  or  wretched  degradation  seemed 
plain ;  and  with  a  sincere  interest  in  her  welfare,  it 
irked  him  that  she  should  throw  by  an  opportunity  to 
marry  a  fortune,  a  good  home,  and  the  incumbrance  not 
unpleasant  either,  for  a  woman  who  has  missed  her  one 
goldon  opening,  and  of  whom  erit  cestas  non  semper  was 
dismal  certainty. 

But  as  she  descended  the  stairs  in  her  sadness,  forget 
ting  of  all  in  the  soon  approaching  meeting  with  her  out 
cast  beloved,  her  eyelids  swelled  and  faintly  rosy,  as 
the  Beatrice  Cenci's  whom  she  looked  not  unlike,  perhaps, 
her  graceful  form  steadied  through  nervous  concentration, 
her  beauty  wrought  upon  this  Sybarite  as  her  sorrow 
could  not ;  and  it  was  with  sincere  sympathy  that  he 
pressed  into  her  hands  the  bouquet  of  hot-house  flowers, 
and  the  note  he  waited  to  deliver. 

The  emotion  illuminated  his  clear-cut  features  as  Peace 
joined  them,  and  her  smile  reflected  the  radiance  in  a 
fervor  of  gratitmle.  She  never  approved  of  him  so  thor 
oughly  as  when  he  placed  her  beside  her  friend  in  the 
sleigh ;  she  even  turned  to  watch  him,  as  he  stood  lean 
ing  against  the  door  a  moment,  and  watching  their  de 
parting  vehicle. 

They  drove  silently  over  the  crisp  snow,  and  arriving, 
went  timidly  through  the  bare  hall  into  the  guard-room, 
where  the  ugly  darkeys  leered  at  them  from  the  wall,  and 
certain  photographs  of  wardens  killed  in  the  prison  hung 
between  the  windows,  and  where  the  coarse-voiced  super 
intendents  were  making  tough  jokes  for  the  five  minutes 
between  dinner  and  duty. 

Francis  Haythorne's  letter  was  addressed  to  the  war 
den  of  Top  Town  Penitentiary,  and  announced  that,  as 
friends  of  the  shoe  contractors  wished  to  visit  the  prison, 
any  politeness  shown  them  would  be  to  the  undersigned 


424  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

firm.  The  reigning  chief  was  not  in,  but  Mollie  delivered 
the  precious  sesame  to  his  deputy,  a  fat  man  with  a  red 
head,  and  cruel,  passionate  face.  He  said  lie  would  will 
ingly  show  them  about,  but  he  had  a  tremendous  big  job 
on  hand ;  and,  as  he  went  into  the  yard  directly  and 
kicked  the  white  bull-dogs,  the  waiting  women  concluded 
that  must  be  it. 

Then  they  looked  through  the  grating  and  saw  the 
long  lines  of  pallid  men  marching  to  their  shops,  with 
faces  averted,  and  stamped  with  misery  and  pain ;  and 
after  following  with  the  joking,  laughing  visitors,  peeped 
into  the  comfortless  cells,  into  the  spotless  workshops, 
where  are  made  rulers  and  silver-plated  wares,  into  the 
weaving  department,  into  the  grimy  machine-rooms, 
where  rogues  learn  exactly  the  best  knowledge  to  apply 
to  lock-picking ;  and  then  they  came  to  the  shoemaking, 
and,  going  in,  Mollie  stood  still  and  looked  straight  be 
fore  her  at  a  man  pegging  boots.  Through  the  window 
you  could  see  the  dry  sticks  of  the  garden  plants  rising 
desolately  above  the  December  snow ;  within,  were  the 
hopeless,  wicked  men,  plodding  heartlessly  through  their 
tasks,  and  four  stone  walls  shut  him  and  them  together 
in  a  world  which  had  neither  outlet  nor  refreshing,  and 
he  all  she  had.  She  trembled  lest  he  should  hear  her 
panting  breath  and  look  up  ; — no  fear  of  that.  Every 
glance  cost  a  blow,  and  work  must  be  done.  He  hurried 
on  with  it  in  feverish  energy,  but  once,  as  he  laid  down  a 
finished  boot,  he  sighed — a  long,  tired  sigh.  When  the 
guard  called  them  to  move  on,  it  seemed  to  Mollie  as  if 
she  had  been  standing  there  a  lifetime,  her  perceptions  of 
her  lover's  pain  were  so  strangely  wonted  and  old. 
Back  in  the  guard-room,  one  of  the  officers  said  he  would 
go  and  bring  the  prisoner ;  and  Peace,  haughty  and  defi 
ant,  some  of  the  people  having  pointed  out  thieves  and 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  405 

murderers  to  her,  and  then  inquired  if  she  was  any  rela 
tion,  betook  herself  to  absorbed  study  of  certain  anti 
quated  firearms,  in  a  case  near  the  prison  keys. 

Mollie,  too  much  agitated  to  be  seated,  stood  by  the 
window,  trying  to  master  herself.  She  had  forgotten 
that  they  must  pass  by  ;  could  that  be  he?  ill  clad,  with 
eyes  on  the  ground,  bent  to  the  regulation  slouch — hers  ! 

Their  steps  sounded  on  the  flagstones  of  the  dormitory. 
The  door  opened.  He  came  forward  hesitating,  tincer- 
tain  of  his  reception.  They  sat  down  on  the  bench  to 
gether — he,  shivering  from  his  sudden  plunge  into  the 
freezing  court;  she,  warm  and  lovely,  and  throbbing  from 
head  to  foot  with  emotion.  She  forgot  the  lookers-on, 
and  snatching  both  his  thin  hands  in  hers,  held  them  fast 
in  her  electric  clasp,  whispering, 

"  My  own  Louis." 

"  My  Mollie  !  "  answered  the  convict,  looking  hungrily 
into  her  eyes ;  and  then  they  sat  silent,  all  the  multitude 
of  things  that  must  be  said  crowded  quite  out  of  their 
minds  in  the  joy  of  meeting.  It  was  only  after  concen 
trated  study  of  the  floor  and  each  other,  that  Louis  ven 
tured  to  remark,  with  his  old  flickering  blush,  "  that  he'd 
got  a  pair  of  new  shoes."  But  this  was  so  inapposite  to 
the  weighty  matters  that  pressed  on  their  hearts,  that 
they  both  smiled ;  and  the  ice  being  broken,  all  the 
hoarded  necessities  of  their  confidence  rushed  out  pell- 
mell.  But  when  Mollie  told  of  her  illness  after  his  letter 
came,  and  her  promise,  and  her  father's  message,  Louis' 
glance  sought  the  floor. 

"  That  may  be  a  long  time,  Mollie.     It  is  very  hard." 

She  had  known  it  always,  but  never  so  bitterly  as  now. 

"  Is  he  very  feeble  ?  "  Louis  made  his  questions  after 
miserable  pauses. 

"  Yes,"  Mollie  said,  and  thought  at  the  bottom  of  her 


426  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

heart  that  even  feebleness  was  no  excuse  for  such  cruel 
demands  \ipon  her  love  ;  and  waited  passively  to  hear  if 
her  betrayed  would  pardon — not  him — but  her. 

Her  suspense  was  short.  "  Tell  Deacon  McCross," 
said  ho,  throwing  back  his  head,  masterful  and  earnest, 
"that  I  forgive  him  all, — even  this  worst  thing, —  all: 
from  the  first  day  till  this  moment.  Tell  him  1  shall 
prove  a  man  yet." 

But  the  woman's  head  drooped  lower,  as  his  was  raised, 
her  dilating  eyes  fixed  with  piteous  intensity  on  his  face, 
that  worked  with  emotion. 

"O  Louis,  how  can  we,  how  can  I,  live  so?"  she 
broke  down  all  at  once.  "  Plow  could  I  promise?  How 
could  I  help  promising  ?  What  virtue  is  there  in  life  to 
make  us  live  ?  " 

He  drew  her  hot  fa.ce  to  his  shoulder,  covered  by  the 
coarse  harlequin  prisoner's  jacket.  Its  touch  recalled 
her  to  their  surroundings,  but  she  would  not  move  :  she 
was  so  tired — so  tired  ;  and  she  wiped  from  her  eyes  the 
scalding  tears,  welling  with  long  gasps  from  her  deepest 
soul,  but  kept  her  place — her  own  dear  place. 

How  strong  Louis  felt  himself  grow  beneath  that  help 
less  weight.  It  is  so  passing  sweet  to  be  sought  for 
shelter  of  our  dear!  No  caress  given  in  their  free  glad 
wooing  had  half  the.  delicious,  heart-swelling  power  of 
this  tearful  pleading  cry,  and  sinking  upon  his  help,  here 
in  the  prison. 

"Darling,"  said  he,  bringing  his  new  precious  experi 
ence  to  comfort  her,  too  eager  to  remember  how  he  was 
half  afraid  to  realize  it  to  his  own  soul  in  his  lonely  cell : 
"  God  that  we  both  love  will  help  us.  There  is  no  sorrow 
like  unto  his  sorrow." 

Then  Mollie,  nestling  in  her  place,  knew  exultant  what 
she  had  been  finding  out  through  all  this  hour  of  sore 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  427 

agony.  Hers  was  a  nobler  prop  than  the  old  boyish  af 
fection  ;  her  Damascene  sword  had  been  tempered  in  tlio 
fire ;  her  woman's  soul,  given  so  freely  to  suffering,  should 
no  longer  bear  the  whole  burden.  It  was  supplemented 
by  a  manhood,  noble,  deep,  entire  as  her  love. 

"  One  thinks  a  great  many  thoughts  in  penitentiary," 
said  Louis,  gently,  as  she  sat  up  still  circled  by  his  arm, 
and  tried  to  control  her  sobs.  "  I  have  learned  the  mean 
ing  of  life,  here.  It  has  been  a  painful  year,  but  it  was 
necessary:  God  knew  best.  Was  I  harsh  about  your 
father?  "  making  abrupt  stop.  "  I  often  remember  how 
he  tried  to  be  kind.  Once  he  stood  on  an  empty  ash 
hogshead  behind  the  barn,  to  steal  his  own  grapes  for  me, 
and,  as  he  reached  up  to  pick  them,  we  heard  your  mother 
coming,  and  the  head  fell  in,  and  he  with  it.  He  doubled 
his  length  once  or  twice,  and  curled  down,  thinking  he 
was  hidden ;  but  just  as  she  was  going  to  pour  in  her 
pail  of  coal,  he  rose  and  confronted  her  like  an  amiable 
ghost.  1  shall  never  forget  how  mild  and  bald  and  funny 
he  looked,  neatly  powdered  with  cinders,  the  tell-tale 
fruit  in  his  hand,  and  half  a  dozen  bunches  hid  in  my 
apron." 

Little  enough  of  happy  memory  can  be  strung  on  the 
thread  of  home-worry  ;  but  Mollie  smiled  gratefully,  and 
was  comforted — as  what  woman  will  not  be,  if  it  please 
the  man  she  loves  to  attempt  her  consolation  V 

And  now  Peace,  who  had  been  trying  on  handcuffs  at 
the  other  end  of  the  room,  attended  by  the  jailer,  whose 
heart  would  soften  in  spite  of  himself,  came  over  to  end 
the  interview,  and  lighten  their  feeling  by  a  pound  of 
candy,  presented  with  a  set  speech. 

But  she  had  hardly  begun,  "  On  this  occasion,  unaccus 
tomed  as  I  am,"  when  she  fell  to  crying  for  sympathy 
with  these  poor  children,  who  were  so  patient  in  their 


428  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

misery.      A   second  time,   it  was  Louis  whose  strength 
sufficed  to  soothe. 

"  Miss  Peace,"  said  he,  in  voice  tremulous,  but  manner 
calm,  "  your  sorrow  is  like  a  divine  light,  but  you  mustn't 
feel  bad  for  Mollie  and  me :  God  is  taking  care  of  us. 
'  Whom  He  has  joined  together,  no  man  can  sunder.' 
Mollie  is  my  wife,  and  I  am  her  husband  forever."  Then 
he  went  bravely  away,  though  the  kiss  he  threw  them  as 
he  passed  the  window  was  almost  a  sob,  and  the  answer 
ing  smile  from  Mollie  near  broke  her  heart. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

"What  are  little  girls  made  of  ? 
Sugar  and  spice 
And  all  that's  nice, 
That's  what  little  girls  are  made  of." 

HE  family  were  sitting  in  the  library  when  Mollie 
came  back.  Francis  Haythorne,  in  particular, 
lay  stretched  out  in  a  great  green  easy-chair, 
with  the  leaves  of  a  half-cut  "  Eclectic  "  between  his  fin 
gers,  the  picture  of  mannish  comfort. 

Miss  Pelican  sailed  up  to  him  at  once,  her  eyes  blazing, 
her  movements  lithe  with  excitement,  her  short  upper  lip 
curled  to  its  last  extent.  "  You  needn't  tell  me  they 
don't  abuse  the  prisoners,"  cried  she ;  "  I  know  better ! 
they  could  every  one  of  them  stand  for  models  in  the 
court  of  death." 

The  gentleman  opened  his  red  hazel  eyes  into  a  glance 
of  unmoved  inquiry,  and  replaced  on  the  ottoman  the 
slippered  foot  her  abrupt  attack  had  startled  to  the  floor. 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  409 

"  It  will  be  a  wonder  if  Louis  Allwood  lives  till  spring. 
I  don't  see  how  Mollie  endures  it,"  she  went  on  vehem 
ently.  "  I  know  that  human  bull-dog  of  a  warden  is 
cruel.  If  I  was  a  prisoner  I'd  cut  my  throat." 

"  Indeed  ?  "  said  Mr.  Haythorne,  instantly  shutting 
his  oyster-shell  dislike  of  useless  agitation  over  his  sympa 
thies,  and  languidly  fluttering  his  magazine  leaves;"! 
suppose  the  knaves  deserve  all  they  get.  To  tell  the 
truth,  they're  too  coarsely  unpleasant  to  be  interesting. 
Will  you  have  the  heavenly  kindness  to  excuse  my  lazi 
ness,  and  close  the  window,  as  you're  standing  near  it.  I 
feel  that  the  single  white  hair  in  my  head  is  catching  cold. 
This  is  a  capital  article  on  Punch  and  Judy." 

In  Mollie's  wretchedness  she  came  to  one  icevitable 
experience,  bitterer  than  all.  It  wasn't  that  she  and 
Louis  suffered.  They  were  set  to  suffer.  She  never  re 
belled  against  necessities.  But  nobody  cared.  If  Louis 
had  died,  or  been  crippled,  or  robbed  of  property,  if  any 
misfortune  had  overtaken  him  that  entailed  no  responsi 
bility  on  the  community,  every  one  would  have  overflowed 
with  sympathy.  As  it  was,  when  anything  brought  their 
misery  to  people's  minds,  they  felt  uneasy  and  made  haste 
to  forget.  N~o  one  wanted  to  alter  the  pressure  that  crushed 
them.  The  replies  in  Peace's  dialogue,  prefaced  by  a  win 
dow  bang,  sampled  every  one's  mind. 

"  But  Louis  is  a  gentleman,  and  suffers  unjustly." 

"  Oh,  you  think  so." 

"  I  know  it ;  so  would  you,  if  you  weren't  too  snippy." 

"  Ah  !  well !  he  must  have  done  something  to  get  into 
the  fix.  Justice  must  be  satisfied.  You  don't  look  into 
the  social  necessity  of  punishment." 

Though  not  at  all  interested  in  the  point  at  issue,  the 
Sybarite  was  by  no  means  blind  to  the  magnificent  soul- 
impulses  and  facial  expressions  the  beautiful  woman 


430  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

before  him  unconsciously  developed.  He,  in  his  turn, 
approved  of  her  with  all  his  heart.  He  loved  to  watch 
her,  and  continued  with  a  little  more  animation  :  "  As  for 
working  them,  you  can't  expect  us  to  pay  for  their  living; 
and  if  we  can  get  anything  extra,  we've  a  right  to  it  to 
make  up  for  the  trouble  they've  caused." 

(N.B.  Our  justice  to  people  under  our  thumb  is  usually 
rapacity  ;  but  we  call  it  political  economy,  and  its  exi 
gencies  afford  favorite  opportunities  for  Christians  to  get 
very  rich.) 

"  But  brutality  and  want  assault  every  prisoner,"  urged 
Peace. 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  that." 

"  You  could,  if  you  pleased." 

"  I  don't  want  to  ;  why  should  I  ?  " 

Why  should  they,  indeed?  Outside  the  pricks  of 
self-interest  or  the  gad-fly  of  necessity,  what  excites  any 
body  to  do  anything  ?  Why  should  they  even  open  their 
eyes,  when  if  they  did  a  duty  would  lie  straight  under 
them  ?  This  whole  world  is  a  huge  press  whereto  selfish 
ness  is  the  screw,  turned  by  avarice  and  revenge  to 
squeeze  out  the  life-blood  of  the  unfortunate.  If  misery 
be  a  gridiron,  respectability  oils  the  blistering  limbs  with 
pious  regret,  and  cupidity  furnishes  coals. 

If  it  takes  form  in  the  guillotine,  Christianity  looks 
the  other  way  while  Christian  expediency  lets  falls  the 
axe.  If  it  be  a  subtilly  twisted  cord  of  disgrace,  acquaint 
anceship  kicks  away  the  scaffold,  while  revenge  on  high 
moral  grounds  rifles  our  pockets  and  adjusts  the  rope 
around  our  necks. 

There  is  no  evil  in  which  individual  or  people  can  be 
placed,  where  all  the  spiritual  virtues  do  not  furnish  men 
good  reasons  for  refusing  aid  ;  and  yet,  among  the  endless 
frauds  and  peculations  that  rot  all  business  honor,  to 
wrong  one's  fellows  seems  no  great  crime,  unless  the  fraud 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  431 

be  badly  planned  :  then  indeed  nineteenth-century  recti 
tude  achieves  a  parabola,  and  ends  at  hell  gate. 

"  A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that,"  said  Peace,  who  had 
been  saying  in  many  words  what  I  have  set  down  in  few. 

"  I'd  like  to  know  what  you're  going  to  do  about  it  ?  " 
quoth  her  auditor,  stroking  his  curling  beard  with  a  hand 
snow-white  and  dimpled.  He  was  thinking  inly  how 
noble  a  help,  a  champion,  she  was  showing  herself,  and 
delicately  enjoying  every  unconscious  revelation  of  her 
turns  of  thought  and  emotion.  Peace  had  a  habit  of 
talking  to  people  at  large  on  the  rim  of  herself,  which 
proved  aggravating  to  similarly  customed  masculines. 
Even  the  red-haired  had  never  explored  the  centre  of  this 
delightful  volcano.  She  held  his  answer  as  insult,  boiled 
down,  double-distilled.  "A  Daniel  come  to  judgment," 
said  she,  seating  herself  in  desperation,  as  if  effort  was 
no  use.  A  woman  is  worth  nothing  when  there  is  any 
good  to  be  done.  If  I  was  only  a  man !  If  you  were 
half  a  man  !  " 

The  unpleasant  person  sitting  in  the  great  arm-chair 
began  to  laugh,  conscious  that  the  kitten  had  claws. 

"  Be  calm,  good  Mrs.  Fry,"  said  lie. 

"  Keep  thy  heart  at  seventy  throbs  a  minute ;  from  all 
sick  people,  maimed  wretches,  afflicted  people,  turn  away 
thine  eyes,  and  depart  elsewhere,"  she  hurled  at  him 
scornfully. 

This  time  she  touched  him.  He  straightened  up  flushed 
and  angry,  exclaiming,  "  If  you  mean  to  call  me  a  selfish 
puppy,  do  it  in  plain  English  ! "  when  Mollie  stole  in  and 
sat  down  meekly,  in  a  corner. 

"  You  are  very  unfair,  daughter,"  said  Mr.  Pelican, 
breaking  the  pause  following  the  dialogue.  "  It's  the 
contractors'  business  to  see  that  their  men  are  cared  for, 
not  ours.  The  system  does,  has  always  done,  well ;  change 


432  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

would  be  expensive.     If  there  are  abuses  let  the  Legisla 
ture  remedy  them.     It's  not  our  affair." 

If  you  want  to  know  the  aggregate  resisting  weight  of 
all  the  people  in  the  world,  propose  a  reform,  and  take 
only  one  step  in  it. 

"  By  '  doing  well '  you  probably  mean  that  once  im 
mured  you  hear  no  more  of  a  convict,"  said  Peace. 

"  About  that,"  confessed  her  father,  "  the  point  is  to 
save  honest  men  from  annoyance.  Any  way  you  fix  it, 
imprisonment  is  better  than  the  old  plan  of  hanging  a 
man  for  stealing  a  loaf  of  bread." 

"That  wasn't  theft  under  the  Jewish  law,"  said  Mollie 
abruptly.  "  It  ought  never  to  be  under  any.  But  nine 
times  out  of  ten  it  would  be  more  Christian  to  kill  a  man 
than  to  send  him  to  State's  prison." 

"  No  !  no  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Pelican,  shocked.  "  We  have 
no  right  to  take  life." 

"  When  yoxi  shut  up  a  life  away  from  activity  in  the 
world  m  a  prison,  don't  you  take  it  and  put  it  there  ? 
When  you  cut  five  years  out  of  a  man's  existence,  and 
make  them  empty  years,  only  marked  by  pulse-beats  of  suf 
fering,  don't  you  take  so  much  life  !  When  you  gradually 
transform  a  man  from  a  sinning,  suffering  human  being, 
into  a  brute  or  a  devil,  by  subjecting  him  to  circumstan 
ces  known  to  rob  him  of  morality  and  affection,  don't 
you  take  his  life  ?  When,  being  innocent,  you  slowly 
break  his  heart,  and  so  kill  him,  don't  you  take  his  life '? 
When,  having  warped  his  soul  out  of  all  possibility  of 
rectitude,  he  dies  in  the  ditch,  or  by  suicide,  or  \yy  the 
hangman,  and  goes  to  hell,  haven't  you  taken  his  life,  and 
put  it  there  ?  Which  is  the  worst — to  give  him  at  once 
to  the  mercy  of  his  Maker,  or  serve  him  so  ?  And  for 
every  soul  thus  damned,  aren't  you,  who  have  power  to 
help  it  and  don't,  murderers?  " 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  433 

The  whole  family  were  horrified  at  this  way  of  putting 
it,  and  when  Mollie,  frightened  by  her  own  outburst, 
hastened  from  the  room,  with  face  deadly  pale,  and  form 
shaking  like  an  aspen  under  sway  of  passionate  sense  of 
wrong,  they  stared  blankly  in  each  other's  faces. 

"  She  speaks  tne  truth,"  said  old  Mr.  Pelican  at  last, 
thoughtfully.  "  It  is  <nurder.  But  I'm  sure,"  rallying, 
"  I  haven't  time  to  attend  to  it.  What  with  the  Congre 
gational  Sunday-school,  and  the  missionary  fund  for 
China,  I  have  neither  interest  nor  money  to  give." 

"  Yes,"  said  Francis  Haythorue,  looking  very  uneasy. 
t(  I  might,  I  suppose,  get  up  a  petition,  investigate,  com 
pare,  write  a  pamphlet,  do  something  of  the  sort.  But 
then  it  would  make  one  so  conspicuous — so — take  so 
much  time,  have  to  talk  to  so  many  people.  It's  non- 
Cerise  to  speak  of  it." 

"  Besides,"  added  Mr.  Pelican  comfortably,  "  if  I  med 
dled  in  the  business  to  get  that  young  Allwood  out, 
Mollie'd  be  certain  to  have  him.  And  he's  spoilt  for 
life,  and  she's  a  fine  girl  with  money.  I  don't  think  it 
would  be  right  to  stir  in  it." 

"  And  I,"  cried  Peace,  bitterly,  lt  am  a  rich  man's 
daughter,  of  high  breeding  and  all  the  feminine  virtues. 
It  would  be  bad  taste  to  put  myself  forward.  I  can't  do 
anything."  With  that  she  banged  the  door  defiantly,  and 
went  to  comfort  Mollie. 

But  Mollie's  self-mastery  was  regained  outwardly.  She 
had  summoned  her  terrible  will  to  her  help.  She  would 
not  show  emotion  now,  not  if  Louis  and  she  both  died  at 
their  rack.  And  her  steady  eyes  looked  out  with  their 
every-day  quietude  from  their  black,  suffering,  chiselled 
caverns.  Poor  Peace  was  miserable,  too ;  and  it  was 
partly  her  fault.  She  w^s  wrong  to  speak  out.  Silence 
was  her  only  safety.  She  was  folding  the  pretty  gray 
19 


43-i  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

robe,  and  humming  "  Robin  Adair,"  when  Miss  Pelican, 
absolutely  frightened  by  the  even  ripple  of  that  sweet 
voice  at  such  a  time,  paused  at  her  door. 

Mollie  heard  her,  and  called  her  in,  still  busy  with  the 
creases  of  the  cashmere. 

"  From  little  matters  let  us  pass  to  less,  and  lightly 
scan  the  mysteries  of  dress,"  said  she,  easily.  "  What 
are  you  going  to  wear  to-night  ?  " 

"  Mollie  !  povera  mia !  have  they  broken  your  heart  ?  " 
cried  Peace,  brushing  past  her  remark. 

'•  No,"  returned  Mollie  in  a  clear,  decisive  tone,  "  nor 
can't.  I  never  felt  such  capacity  for  endurance  as  I  do  at 
this  moment.  I  can  and  will  bear  to  the  end.  Now,  let 
us  talk  of  more  agreeable  things.  Your  father,  this 
morning,  bade  us  all  to  see  the  Ticket-of-Leave  Man. 
With  what  shall  we  adorn  ourselves  ?  " 

"  You  are  not  going  to  that  play  !  "  exclaimed  Peace, 
more  and  more  terrified.  "  What  was  father  thinking  of 
to  propose  such  a  thing  ?  The  miserable  sequence  to 
kindred  misfortune  will  half  kill  you  after  this  morning's 
experience." 

"  You  are  mistaken.  I  know  the  story,  and,  rather 
than  hurt  your  father's  feelings,  would  sit  out  twenty  such 
performances.  As  we  are  to  have  a  box,  it  will  be  neces 
sary  to  go  without  bonnets.  I  have  about  settled  on  blue 
merino,  with  white  in  my  hair.  Have  I  hurt  you  by  my 
heartless  talk  ?  "  said  she,  stopping  at  the  aghast  look  on 
Peace's  face.  "  Do  you  know  I  frequently  doubt  if  I 
have  any  real  affection  for  any  one, — even  Louis — 

"  '  Love,  like  a  waxen  image  'gainst  the  fire, 
Bears  no  impression  of  the  thing  it  was.'  " 

"  No,  it  isn't  that  exactly ;  it's  a  stolid  incapacity  for 
emotion  of  any  kind." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  435 

"  I'm  sorry,"  said  Peace,  with  a  great  sigh.  "  Comfort 
Mollie  ?  Where  should  she  find  it  to  give  ?  "  She  was 
going  sadly  out  of  the  room,  when  her  friend  called  her 
back. 

"  Dear  girl,"  said  Mary,  putting  her  love-thrilling 
hands  on  Peace's  shoulders,  and  giving  her  one  of  those 
rare  glances  of  tenderness,  and  willing  self-unveiling,  that 
were  equal  charm  and  reward.  "  It  is  true  that  Louis 
and  I  have  a  hard  time.  I  don't  know  but  it  is  as  wrong 
to  be  false  and  deny  it,  as  it  would  be  to  deny  our  bless 
ings.  But  God  is  with  us,  and  we  shall  not  fail  utterly. 
Don't  fear.  We  will  be  happy  yet.  And  your  sympathy 
is  my  greatest  comfort  on  earth."  That  was  the  longest 
confidence  Mollie  ever  made  about  her  troubles.  .  .  . 

"  I  would  give  a  good  deal  to  know  what  those  round 
white  things  are  that  you  have  circling  your  throat,"  said 
Francis  Haythorne,  lazily  inspecting  Peace,  as  she  put 
finishing  touches  to  her  toilet  that  night,  in  the  up-stairs 
sitting-room. 

"  What,  my  wax  beads  ?  "  returned  the  beauty,  making 
a  half  pirouette  before  the  long  mirror,  and  pausing  in  an 
attitude.  She  had  mourned  over  her  friend  all  the  after 
noon,  but  even  misery  itself  cannot  prevent  some  women 
from  being  coquettes  before  a  looking  glass. 

"  They  aren't  wax  ;  they  break  like  mica,"  said  he,  in  a 
scientific  manner. 

Peace  sat  down  in  mock  despair.  "  You  haven't  been 
destroying  those  beads  ?  Francis  Haythorne,  how  old  are 
you  ?  " 

"  A  sage  in  understanding,  and  a  babe  in  iniquity. 
Years  are  no  account.  I  only  crushed  a  broken  bubble," 
said  the  young  man,  innocent  as  the  cat  after  banquet  on 
canary.  "  I  wanted  to  know  what  made  them  so  white 
and  shiny.  You  don't  care,  I  suppose." 


436  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  No,"  answered  she,  in  that  plaintive  tone  which,  used 
by  a  pretty  woman,  is  very  fascinating.  "  Did  you  melt 
it?" 

"  I  didn't  think  to,"  replied  the  investigator,  intent  in 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  forthwith  held  the  rounded 
bauble  in  the  gas-jet,  his  face  demure  and  grave. 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Peace,  suddenly.  "  You  burned  me. 
That  horrid  wax  melted  on  my  hand." 

"  Give  it  to  me,  and  I'll  cure  it." 

"  Well,"  she  replied,  stretching  it  out  to  his  grasp, 
carelessly.  "  There !  you  promised  me  a  great  deal ; 
what  is  it  ?  " 

"  I'll  give  you  myself ;  "  his  cultured  musical  voice 
earnest  and  tender.  The  afternoon's  study  had  been 
working  in  his  mind,  and  the  possibility  his  fancy  had 
often  suggested  had  now  taken  form  as  resolve. 

"  Poh  !  "  exclaimed  Peace,  jerking  her  hand  away,  and 
putting  it  behind  her.  "  J  want  something  worth  having 
— candy  for  instance." 

"  Is  that  all  the  value  I  have  to  you  ?  "  said  he,  hurt ; 
''any  fool  can  give  you  that." 

"  True,"  retorted  she,  reddening ;  "  but  I  only  ask  it 
of  the  biggest." 

"  Then  I  will  complete  my  folly,  and  entreat  you  to  be 
my  wife.  O  Peace,  you  surely  must  have  known  my 
love  for  you — you  cannot  have  called  me  to  be  your 
,very  shadow  for  months,  have  glittered  and  coquetted 
before  my  eyes,  and  all  for  me,  and  not  felt  that  you  held 
my  soul  in  your  fingers.  You  cannot  mean  to  turn  me 
away  empty."  When  this  man  once  let  go  of  his  Syba 
rite  inertia,  he  was  as  impetuous  and  precipitate  as 
Niagara.  It  was  not  lack  of  power,  but  motive,  that 
made  him  what  he  appeared. 

This  Peace  felt ;  she  recognized  him  as  an  equal,  but 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  4.37 

she  had  by  no  means  forgotten  how  she  had  returned  with. 
Mollie  from  the  prison ;  and,  for  the  bitter  sorrow  they 
brought  back,  no  one  cared.  She  had  hated  them  all  ever 
since,  and,  with  the  inky  record  of  his  selfishness  not  dry 
in  heaven,  he  presumed  to  think  she  would  love  him. 

"  Oh,  but  I  do  !  "  she  exclaimed,  angrily.  "  How  was  I 
to  know  I  was  ensnaring  your  heart?" 

"  You  took  pains  enough  ; "  resentful  and  astonished. 

"  You  are  mistaken.  I  was  only  exercising  what  you 
have  often  called  woman's  sole  vocation — the  artistic.  I 
never  did  anything  worthy  of  love  any  more  than  you. 
I  made  fancy-work  in  the  library,  and  you  played  the 
piano,  and  talked  German  moonshine.  Was  there  any 
thing  of  value  enough  to  call  forth  affection,  self-abnega 
tion  in  that?  I  mourned  over  poverty  and  crime,  and 
did  nothing  to  help  the  sufferers,  as  is  appropriate  and 
becoming  to  women  ; — and  you,  you  didn't  even  mourn. 
You  were  too  selfish ;  you  would  still  rather  play  the 
piano,  and  diddle  around  art,  and  dangle  about  me.  I 
detest  myself — I  despise  you.  Marry  you  !  I  would,  if 
only  to  show  you  what  a  worthless  thing  I  am,  if  you 
were  not  so  much  more  contemptible.  You  are  a  trifler, 
and  nothing  more.  Any  other  handsome  face  will  capti 
vate  you  as  thoroughly  as  mine.  You  pretend  to  love 
your  profession,  and  are  alarmed  at  the  exertion  of  giv 
ing  eau  sucre  to  an  infant  with  hiccoughs ;  that  is  the 
worth  of  your  devotion.  Plenty  of  women  will  give 
frittery  hearts  for  paltry  attentions.  What  did  you  ask 
me  for  ?  I  wish  I  was  dead — you — everybody  !  Get  out 
of  my  sight !  " 

Francis  Haythorne,  as  I  have  intimated,  possessed  a 
head  of  extremely  auburn  hair,  and  if  Peace  had  a  gift, 
it  was  capacity  for  stirring  people  up  from  the  bottom  of 
their  souls. 


438  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

The  young  man  was  too  indignant  at  the  first  part  of 
her  speech  to  notice  the  pain  she  betrayed  at  its  close. 
He  rose  incensed  and  insulted.  "  I  won't,"  said  he, 
stamping  his  handsome  foot.  "  I  won't  !  I  won't !  you 
must  go  out  with  me  this  very  evening.  You're  a  heart 
less  flirt.  I  will  see  you  every  day,  here  under  your 
father's  roof;  you  can't  prevent  the  dear  delight  of  wit 
nessing  your  beauty,  and  suffering  from  your  tempei-." 

"  I  can,  and  will !  "  retorted  Peace.  "  I'll  accept  my 
invitation  to  Cragenfels,  and  start  to-morrow!  How 
sheepish  you  look,  stamping  like  a  pet  lamb  !  Do  you 
know  ?  "  she  added  deliberately,  gazing  straight  at  him 
from  her  immense  malicious  black  eyes,  "  if  I  had  ever 
thought  you  had  any  heart,  I  might  have  been  careful ; 
but  I  didn't  suppose  you  could  love  any  one  but  yourself." 

"  You'll  find  out  that  I  do,"  exclaimed  he,  his  voice 
husky  with  rage.  "  I'll  make  you  care  for  me,  and 
marry  me  too,  in  spite  of  your  airs." 

"  That  you  never  can  !  "  Peace  had  lost  the  last  ves 
tige  of  her  self-command  by  this.  "  If  you  want  to  hear, 
I  would  have  adored  you  long  ago,  if  you  had  been  good 
for  anything.  But  you  weren't,  and  I'm  glad  to  have  a 
chance  of  telling  you  my  opinion." 

Instead  of  naming  up  still  more  under  this,  her  worst 
stab,  the  dismissed  suitor  took  a  seat  and  began  to  laugh. 

"  Of  a  truth,"  said  he,  "  thou  hast  spoken  many  words  ; 
but  there  is  no  harm  done,  for  the  speaker  is  one,  and  the 
listener  is  another." 

And  before  the  incensed  object  of  his  passion  had  time 
to  retort,  the  door  opened  to  admit  Mary  McCross,  who 
come  forward  quicker  than  was  usual;  and  they  noticed, 
as  she  stood  in  the  reflected  blaze  of  light  from  the  pier 
glass,  that  the  muscles  about  her  mouth  were  set  in  deep, 
pain-marked  lines,  from  the  effort  she  made  to  hold  them 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  439 

composed.  She  hurriedly  laid  a  telegram  before  the  com 
batants. 

"  My  father  has  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis,"  she  said. 
"  Mr.  Haythorne,  1  must  trouble  you  to  get  me  an  ex 
press  wagon.  I  shall  leave  on  the  midnight  train." 

"  And  I  too,"  said  Peace,  defiant  and  sympathetic  at 
once. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

"  Old  Trot's  Dead." 


was  glad  to  find  matters  at  home  no 
worse.  True  the  Deacon's  left  side  was  en 
tirely  paralyzed,  but  he  wasn't  to  go  yet  —  not  for 
many  months  ;  and  his  daughter  dismissed  both  the  spin 
ster  and  Peace  to  their  merry-making,  and  set  herself  to 
patient  care  of  her  dying. 

It  was  a  piteous  thing  to  see  the  old  man  completely 
crippled,  and  the  girl  clinging  to  him,  holding  him  back 
from  death  by  sheer  force  of  will.  She  wheeled  him 
about  in  his  arm-chair,  into  the  sun,  into  the  shade,  into 
the  sitting-room,  back  to  the  parlor  ;  for  the  poor  invalid 
was  never  at  ease.  She  fed  him,  read  to  him,  watched 
his  slightest  want  from  morning  till  night  ;  and,  except 
to  care  for  her  Syllabub  friends,  never  left  him  an  hour. 

The  news  of  his  illness  thronged  the  house  with  appli 
cants  for  missionary  charity  and  widow's  relief  funds. 
Men  came  clear  from  Top  Town  in  search  of  bequ< 
lank  ministers,  in  seedy  black,  were  forever  ringing  the 
door-bell  ;  and  a  legion  of  needy  Prices  and  McCrosses, 
forgotten,  years  before,  started  up  suddenly,  and  came  in 


440  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

at  the  kitchen  door,  Brussels  carpet-bags  in  hand,  and 
asked  anxiously  after  dear  cousin  l£lizur, — of  the  cook. 
Mrs.  McCross'  immense  energy  was  fully  occupied  in 
heading  off  these  pertinacious  condolers.  But  Dr.  Per 
fect,  mindful  of  duty,  one  day  called  while  she  was  off 
guard,  to  find  Mollie  and  her  father  together,  as  usual. 

His  ponderous  black  form  filled  up  the  sea-green  sit 
ting-room,  and  the  pair  put  away  the  hymn-book  they 
had  been  perusing,  with  a  sense  of  crime. 

"Good-morning,  Deacon  McCross,"  said  lie, in  grating 
bass,  folding  his  black  cashmere  scarf  and  laying  it  for 
mally  across  his  knees — "  I  hope  to  find  you  resigned  to 
your  affliction.  We  should  say  in  sickness,  Devs  nobis  hcec 
ostia  fecit.  I  have  this  moment  returned  from  a  visit 
to  Mrs.  Starbird.  Very  rebellious  at  the  loss  of  her  babe. 
Terribly  rebellious." 

"  Of  course  you  comforted  her  ?  "  said  Mary.  She  was 
ordinarily  dumb  in  the  presence  of  affliction,  and  sorely 
felt  her  deficiency. 

"  JSonis  nocit,  quisquis  pepercerit  mcdis."  said  the  Doc 
tor,  smoothing  the  scarf  over  his  lap,  and  looking  at  her 
severely.  "  I.  told  her,  ma'am,  that  we  must  hope  for  the 
best ;  but  we  cannot  tell  about  these  unregenerate  infants. 
In  rny  opinion  there  are  children  in  hell  not  a  span  long." 

The  sick  man's  face  grew  pained  and  weary  under  this 
enunciation  of  a  creed  he  could  never  shake  off;  but  he 
made  no  remark.  It  was  a  foolhardy  thing  to  oppose 
Dr.  Perfect. 

"'I  have  come!  ut prosim,  this  morning,  to  lay  before 
you  a  much  more  interesting  subject,"  said  the  worthy  pas 
tor,  majestically  waiving  the  question.  "  It  is  a  frequent 
practice  of  people  excepting  speedy  dissolution  to  make  a 
bequest  of  their  earthly  possessions  to  the  Lord ;  in  brief, 
to  the  erection  of  churches  or  the  endowment  of  colle- 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  441 

giate  institutions.  It  is  rny  mission  here,  as  a  man  to 
whom  you  have  delegated  the  care  of  your  spiritual  part, 
and  therefore  the  one  most  fitted  to  advise  in  such  case, 
to  state  that  there  is  no  ecclesiastical  building  in  Mill- 
ville  of  our  denomination,  the  one  across  the  river  being, 
I  regret  to  say,  almost  wholly  in  the  possession  of  the 
Moabites.  Knowing  you  to  be  instant  in  every  good 
work,  I  would  recommend  you  to  endow  a  church, — the 
McCross  Memorial  Church  of  Millville,  which  I  will  my 
self  undertake  to  see  sedificated ;  and  I  will  make  it  the 
recipient  of  my  pastoral  care.  In  fact,  with  due  regard, 
jurem  humanum,  it  would  be  well  to  have  this  a  stated 
condition  of  the  gift." 

Mollie  looked  curiously  at  her  father,  wondering  if  he 
would  rise  to  the  tempting  bait,  or  follow  his  new  rule, 
and  class  the  great  Dr.  Perfect  in  the  long  line  of  disap 
pointed  legacy-hunters.  She  didn't  care  what  became  of 
the  family  wealth.  It  had  brought  her  nothing  but  sor 
row.  She  half  wished  it  was  to  be  transformed  into  bricks 
and  mortar,  and  so  got  out  of  her  way ;  but  she  felt  very 
sure  the  heavy  walls  of  such  a  structure  could  never  be 
hospice  to  any  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem. 

The  Deacon  did  not  seem  surprised  at  tlie  coolness  of 
the  proposal,  or  flattered  at  the  prospect.  He  closed  his 
eyes,  and  lay  back  with  weary  face  among  his  pillows, 
thinking  painfully,  and  (shall  it  be  chronicled  ?)  Dr.  Per 
fect,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  obliged  to  wait.  It  seemed  to  Mol 
lie,  as  she  sat  on  her  low  stool,  fondling  her  father's  hand, 
and  watching,  that  the  good  gentleman  had  more  at  stake 
than  appeared.  Drops  of  sweat  stood  thick  upon  his 
knotted  forehead,  and  the  ponderous  ministerial  hand 
trembled  visibly. 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  he,  breaking  in  on  his  parishioner's 
reverie,  "  I  speak  it  in  confidence,  Mrs.  Perfect  and  my- 
19* 


442  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

self  would  be  loath  to  leave  Millville ;  but  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  of  Roaring  River,  graviora  moment,  is  lamen 
tably  iincongenial  to  the  doctrines  of  holiness.  Sic  itur 
ad  astro," 

11  Tell  me,"  said  Mr.  McCross,  opening  his  eyes  to  be 
stow  a  keenly  business-like  glance  on  his  would-be  adviser, 
"  will  God  thank  me  to  leave  a  sin  \inrepented  of,  pro 
vided  I  will  Him  property  enough  to  build  a  church  ?  " 

" Hem acu  tetiyisti"  quoth  the  Doctor,  making  a  rapid 
calculation  under  cover  of  the  Latin,  of  the  advantages  in 
Honesty  the  best  Policy.  "  Almsdeeds  are  taught  to  be 
an  expression  of  penitence.  What  better  thing  can  a  sin 
ning  man  do  than  trust  unlawful  riches  to  the  retributive 
hands  of  his  Maker.  Spes  tutissima  codis." 

"  He  can  give  them  back,  Dr.  Perfect,  and  do  his  duty. 
I  suppose  you  came  here  by  my  wife's  advice  ?  " 

"  Well — no,"  said  the  applicant  unwillingly.  "  Mrs. 
McCross  is  so  notoriously  nunquam  non  paratus  in 
deeds  of  charity,  that  I  doubt  not  she  would  readily  ac 
quiesce  in  any  disposition  to  the  Lord  you  choose  to  make 
of  your  goods." 

"  Then  I'll  answer  for  her,"  said  Deacon  McCross. 
"  She  wouldn't  let  you  have  a  penny,  and  you  know  it. 
I'll  give  you  a  hundred  dollars,  because  I'm  as  wicked  as 
you  are ;  but  my  property  is  all  disposed  of.  Daughter, 
hand  me  my  cheque-book." 

The  ponderous  dignity  of  the  pastor  brooked  accept 
ance  of  the  money.  It  went  into  his  purse  like  a  fly 
into  a  frog's  mouth,  and  he  departed  with  stately  stride. 

"  Now  Mollie,"  said  her  father  gleefully,  as  she  re 
turned  from  seeing  their  visitor  to  the  door,  "  I  calculate 
that  unless  Pelican  tackles  me  for  his  orphan  asylum, 
I've  said  '  no '  to  the  last  one.  Go  and  bring  me  my 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  4.43 

tin  box  and  keys.     Is  your  mother  come  home  ?     Look 
and  see." 

She  got  them  without  a  word,  and  watched  him  open 
and  fumble  among  the  tape-tied  contents.  He  was 
thinking  again, — over  some  effort  that  ought  to  be  made; 
— hesitating,  always  hesitating. 

Mollie  wondered  if  he  would  have  the  strength  to  go 
on  with  it.  She  would  not  push  him;  it  might  make 
some  little  difference  in  human  affairs.  She  didn't  be 
lieve  it  would  in  divine  pity. 

No,  the  cost  is  too  great.  Big  tears  gather  in  the  old 
man's  eyes,  and  fall  among  the  deeds  and  mortgages. 
"  I  meant  to  tell  you,  Mollie,  but  I  can't,"  he  said,  bro 
kenly.  "  Lock  'em  up,  and  keep  them  yourself;  and 
read  them  over  and  understand  them  with  Louis,  when 
I'm  gone.  He  is  a  good  boy.  And  daughter,"  bringing 
out  the  enforced  cunning  of  a  life's  training,  "  fasten  the 
drawer  where  you  got  them,  so  your  mother  can't  get 
in — and  stay !  take  them  to-day  to  Squire  Hitchcock. 
That  is  safest." 

After  the  first  shock  of  her  husband's  illness,  his  wife 
came  and  went  irrespective  of  him,  as  before.  She 
headed  a  colored  prayer- meeting,  and  occupied  herself 
collecting  funds  in  aid  of  freedrnen  in  Arkansas.  She 
was  too  busy,  far  too  busy,  to  bestow  much  thought  or 
any  care  on  the  broken-hearted  man  slowly  drifting  into 
eternity. 

This  was,  indeed,  as  Dr.  Perfect  said,  a  season  of  re 
freshing  to  the  dying  man  and  his  devoted  nurse.  They 
created  a  little  ideal  world  for  themselves,  and  lived 
therein.  He  liked  to  wear  an  old-fashioned  flowered 
dressing-gown  and  black  velvet  skull-cap,  that  his  daugh 
ter  made  him  after  a  description  of  some  owned  by  an 
antiquated  artist,  seen  in  his  youth.  Thus  arrayed  he 


444  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

received  Peace  in  her  occasional  calls  from  Cragenfels, 
where  she  was  trying  by  systematic  merrymaking  to 
drive  away  or  grind  out  the  unrest  at  her  heart.  Poor 
Peace  !  the  packet  of  Johnnie  Hauxhurst's  friendly  let 
ters,  results  of  the  Kauterskill  expedition,  Chandy's 
jokes,  and  Sabrina's  pleasant  high  bred  companionship, 
had  no  power  to  make  life  seem  worth  while,  or  anything 
but  a  desolate,  useless  traversing  of  earth  space.  She 
herself  did  not  know  why  she  suifered ;  why  the  family 
disgraces  were  so  bitter  and  life  so  profitless.  But  all 
the  more  she  laid  pitfalls  for  the  "  Widower,"  exasper 
ated  Charley,  and  turned  them  all  to  frolic.  "  Go  to, 
now,  I  will  prove  thee  with  mirth ;  but  this  also  is 
vanity." 

Something  of  her  unconfessed  restlessness  seemed  to 
affect  the  paralytic,  who,  fond  as  he  was  of  her  bright 
face  and  flippant  tongue,  always  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief 
at  her  departure.  He  thought  over  all  the  possible 
feminine  wants  that  had  come  within  his  observation, 
and  asked  Mollie  if  she  supposed  money  would  be  any 
comfort  to  her  friend.  Upon  an  affirmative  he  gave  her 
enough  to  set  up  ten  poor  families  in  housekeeping,  and 
more  (Peace  was  at  such  work  now) ;  but  the  result 
did  not  justify  his  hopes. 

It  would  have  been  a  comfort  to  Mollie  and  her  father 
if  Francis  Haythorne,  who  had  returned  to  Millville, 
could  have  stayed  at  Fir  Covert ;  but  Mrs.  McCross,  con 
ceiving  that  this  might  make  her  extra  trouble,  peremp 
torily  refused  her  husband's  meek  request,  and  went  on 
with  her  holiness  meetings  and  spiritual  work,  with  as 
much  eagerness  as  ever. 

As  the  spring  deepened  into  summer,  it  became  more 
and  more  plain  that  the  sufferer's  hours  \vm-e  nauiln  r d. 
He  grew  gradually  too  weak  to  bear  removal  from  his  bod, 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  445 

and  spent  his  time  singing  hymns  in  a  cracked  voice,  and 
looking  at  the  blossoms  he  and  Mollie  had  nursed  so  ten 
derly  for  years.  There  were  certain  plants  old  as  his  nurse 
herself — he  had  them  stand  in  a  row  on  the  window-ledge, 
where  he  could  see  them  every  day.  Two  geraniums  he 
selected  from  among  them,  which  he  said  must  be  planted 
above  his  grave ;  and  on  the  sticks  that  marked  them, 
she  found  in  faded  writing  the  names  "  Louis  and 
Mollie." 

He  used  to  make  her  read  "  A  charge  to  keep  I  have,'* 
as  a  sort  of  penance,  always  pronouncing  the  last  lines 
himself  in  his  old-fashioned  articulation  : 

"  Assoored  if  I  my  trust  betray 
I  shall  forever  die ;  " 

and  then  the  Psalm,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  whose  trans 
gression  is  forgiven,  and  whose  sin  is  covered ; "  and, 
"  Say  unto  Jerusalem  that  she  hath  received  at  the 
Lord's  hand  double  for  all  her  sins." 

Sometimes  they  perused  long  stories  together,  Mollie 
selecting  from  her  favorite  shelf.  She  found  her  calcula 
tion  of  fitness  oddly  astray.  Villette  grated,  and  Haw 
thorne's  reveries  became  trite  on  the  ear  of  the  fast  fad 
ing  spirit ;  not  so  John  Halifax,  always  noble,  sweet, 
and  strong ;  he  could  not  bear  to  wait  for  its  end,  and 
as  his  daughter  read  on,  the  wholesome  trusting  spirit  of 
the  book  seemed  to  exorcise  all  the  tangles  in  the  skein 
of  memory  and  anticipation.  Mrs.  McCross  made  no 
objections  to  the  occupation  beyond  a  disparaging  glance, 
being  otherwise  intent.  But  her  husband  was  more 
heedful  of  her  occupations  ;  and  used  regularly  to  inquire 
where  she  was,  with  every  indication  of  anxiety,  though 
he  never  wanted  her  near  him.  One  day  she  brought 
Cabby  home  in  attendance,  and  proceeded  with  viva- 


446  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

cious  enjoyment  to  feed  him  with  cake  and  -wine  in  the 
adjoining  sitting-room. 

The  Deacon  heard  his  thin  affected  vocables  through 
the  open  door,  and  the  old  man's  emaciated  features 
flushed.  "Tell  him,  Mollie— tell  him  that  I— Elizur 
McCross,  am  a  dying  man,  and  don't  want  my  last  hours 
disturbed  by  him.  Tell  him  when  I'm  dead  he  can  come 
often  as  he  likes,  but  not  while  I'm  alive." 

The  old  man's  high-keyed,  fretful  wail  sounded  dis 
tinct  in  one  room  as  the  other,  and  Cabby,  muttering 
something  about  going  to  be  measured  for  boots,  rose  to 
depart ;  but  this  Mrs.  McCross  would  not  permit. 

"  Stay  where  you  are  and  never  mind  him ;  I  won't 
have  him  hen-huzzying  around,"  she  muttered,  angrily ; 
and  Cabby  required  little  urging  to  resume  his  seat. 

The  Deacon  didn't  reiterate  his  request.  "  They  that 
dwell  in  mine  house  count  me  as  a  stranger ;  I  am  as  an 
alien  in  their  sight,"  said  he,  sadly.  "  You  are  all  the 
comfort  1  have,  daughter." 

As  the  struggle  between  matter  and  spirit  waxed 
fiercer,  he  grew  querulous  at  times ;  and  the  fit  past, 
counted  his  little  personal  possessions  again  and  again  to 
bestow  them  on  the  object  of  his  harmless  outbreaks ; 
but  the  hymns  and  Bible  readings  proved  unfailing  source 
of  rest. 

It  was  not  very  long  after  the  completion  of  Mrs. 
Craik's  wonderful  history,  that  the  Deacon  called  his 
wife  to  his  side,  and  stretched  out  his  poor  shaking  hand 
for  hers.  "  Mirandy,"  said  he,  feebly,  "  you  and  I  did  a 
great  wrong  once ;  since  then  our  barns  and  storehouses 
have  run  over  with  fatness,  but  leanness  has  entered  our 
souls.  Cursed  be  he  that  perverteth  the  judgment  of 
the  fatherless  ;  the  Lord  shall  plead  their  cause." 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  447 

Mrs.  McCross  returned  no  answer,  but  her  small,  thin 
features  looked  more  tallowy  than  ever  in  the  twilight. 

"  Mirandy,"  said  her  husband  again,  pleadingly, 
"  there  is  still  time  to  make  it  partly  right.  The 
money  matter  must  all  come  out  when  I'm  dead.  I've 
put  a  memorandum  of  his  property  in  the  will,  but  the 
other — wife,  I  don't  want  to  leave  the  world  so,  the  bur 
den  is  too  heavy  to  bear — it  was  a  cruel  thing  to  send 
that  boy  to  prison  when  we  knew  the  real  thief.  It's  not 
too  late,  if  you'll  consent  to  help  that — think  of  Mollie." 

Still  no  reply. 

"  My  dear,"  his  voice  was  almost  a  whisper  now 
"  won't  you  give  up  to  ease  a  dying  man  ?  " 

"  Deacon  McCross,  I've  always  considered  that  money 
as  fairly  earned.  Gold  wouldn't  pay  for  the  trouble  I 
took  with  him,  and  what  little  we've  got  I  mean  to  keep. 
As  for  confessing  any  other  nonsense — if  you  choose  to, 
go  to  the  jail  and  condone  the  faults  of  them  two  burglars 
and  get  'em  to  leave  your  own  ward  to  go  where  they 
belonged ;  you  did  it  yourself;  you've  no  right  to  mix  up 
my  good  name  with  your  double-dealing,  in  any  way, 
shape  or  manner." 

She  stood  glaring  at  him  out  of  her  faded  eyes,  that 
could  only  light  up  with  one  expression — malice. 

The  Deacon  didn't  entreat  any  longer.  He  turned  his 
head  away  from  this  woman,  the  evil  genius  of  his  life, 
and  a  few  minutes  after  said,  still  more  feebly,  "  Will  you 
call  Mollie  ?  " 

Something,  perhaps,  in  the  lingering  tenderness  with 
which  he  dwelt  on  the  name  aroused  the  mother's  ire. 

"No,  I  won't,"  said  she,  peevish  and  self-asserting; 
"  it's  nothing  but  '  my  daughter,  my  daughter,'  from 
morning  till  night,  I  wonder  if  I'm  no  account  in  my 
own  house !  If  you  want  medicines  I'll  give  them." 


448  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

A  minute  after  alight  footstep  sounded  in  the  doorway. 
"  Mollie, Mollie,"  he  called,  "  come  quick,  darling;  "  and 
then  in  a  glad,  free  tone,  "  Oh,  boys,  school's  out." 

But  hasten  as  she  might,  one  was  there  before  her,  who 
brought  him  forth  to  his  long  holiday. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

"  Mary,  Mary,  quite  contrairy, 
How  does  your  garden  grow  ?  " 

JT  may  chance  that  some  people,  who  have  hearts 
to  take  interest  in  the  lower  classes,  are  wonder 
ing  about  little  Doppy.  But  it  happened  very 
naturally.  Mollie  had  not  been  back  from  Top  Town  a 
week  when  the  aggrieved  damsel  made  her  appearance. 
She  had  cried  herself  sick,  looked  thin  and  yellow  ;  enter 
ing,  her  lip  quivered  at  Mollie's  greeting.  She  jerked 
off  her  bonnet,  dropped  sidewise  into  the  first  chair,  and 
began  without  preface  or  explanation  : 

"  An'  have  you  seen  Amos  ?  " 

"  Not  since  I  left  Top  Town — when  he  brought  Zack." 

"  Oh,  to  bring  Zack !  with  a  toss  of  her  head,  an' 
much  good  it  may  do  him.  I'll  be  bound  all  his  talk 
didn't  run  on  the  rooster." 

"  No,  it  ran  on  his  tongue.  The  rooster  had  enough 
to  do  to  carry  himself,"  said  Mollie,  with  a  smile. 

"  Whitcht !  "  cried  Doppy,  aggrieved  at  the  triviality. 
"  I  know  what  he  talked  about.  Amos  !  Amos  Daley,  if 
I  do  say  it,  is  too  mean  to  live.  He's  selfish  and  he's 
cowardly  and  he's  underhanded.  Pooh !  I  know  him. 
Haven't  we  tramped  together  these  years  ?  " 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  449 

This  being  unanswerable,  Mollie  assumed  the  offensive. 

Indeed,  to  tell  the  truth,  at  the  bottom  of  her  feminine 
soul,  Miss  McCross  was  a  trifle  out  of  patience  with  her 
charge.  To  her  whose  whole  life  was  a  sacrifice  to  love, 
it  seemed  so  strange  that  Doppy,  a  woman  with  a  heart 
as  leal  and  warm  as  her  own,  should  torture  herself 
and  the  man  she  cared  for  in  this  way.  How  could  she 
know  what  love  was!  argued  Mollie,  and  not  in  all  these 
years  have  learned  that  its  very  essence  ia  self-abiiega- 
tion. 

"  I  must  hear  the  story,"  said  she,  taking  die  firm  little 
Irish  hands  in  hers,  and  diving  down  into  the  depths  of 
the  open  Irish  soul  with  a  friendly  glance ;  "  Amos  al 
ways  seemed  a  good  boy." 

"  Yes,  seemed! "  Dorothea's  voice  took  its  highest 
key.  "  When  you  know  him,  same  as  I  do,  you'll  tell 
another  story ;  you're  too  easy  imposed  upon  by  half." 
But  all  the  time  the  girl  was  yielding  to  Mollie's  gentle 
tranquillity,  and  the  last  word  died  away  in  a  sob.  "  It 
aint — anything — worth  talking — on — only — only — sob — 
sob — I'm  so  miserable."  She  hid  her  face  in  her  friend's 
lap,  and  cried  convulsively,  every  tear  washed  cleaner  her 
mental  picture  of  the  situation.  It  ain't  much  to  tell," 
said  she,  sitting  up  at  last  and  drying  her  eyes  with  her 
Jittle  cotton  handkerchief,  "  but  it's  awful  hard  to  bear. 
To  have  Amos,  as  I've  tramped  with  sence  we  were  no 
size,  jilt  me  and  take  up  with  Mary  Ellen  Heffron,  that 
don't  care  any  more  for  hiiu'n  Jack — no,  nor  half  so 
much."  At  this  dreadful  disclosure  Doppy  again  betook 
herself  to  tears.  "  No,  I  ain't  mistaken,"  seeing  denial 
in  Mollie's  eyes ;  "  it  was  this  way  :  I  sez  to  Amos,  that 
Mary  Ellen  Heffron  was  without  even  wan  partner,  bad 
luck  to  her  for  a  black  flirt  as  she  is,  and  I  thought  it 
would  be  nought  but  kind  to  show  her  some  small  atten- 


450  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

tion,  ineanin'  perhaps  wan  dance,  and  him  to  go  on  that 
and  invite  her  for  foor  quadrilles — yesfoor — leavin'  me 
settin'  by  the  wall  the  hull  time,  only  I  didn't ;  and  then 
to  ask  to  see  her  home !  Suppose  he  tought  me  the  lass 
to  take  up  wid  some  of  the  lazy-bones  he  left ;  but  that's 
not  my  way.  •  I  toold  'em  to  take  care  of  themselves  and 
let  me  lone ;  I  didn't  need  them  if  Amos  had  got  a  sim- 
perin'  miss  to  think  of,  and  cut  me." 

"  You  did!  "  said  Mollie  severely,  conscious  of  a  cer 
tain  picnic  when  Louis  carried  Peace  rowing,  and  left 
her  to  set  table. 

Doppy's  angry  blushes  paled  to  reappear  shame-bidden  ; 
but  she  wouldn't  give  up. 

"You  must  have  treated  Amos  very  ill.  Tell  me  if 
you  haven't  been  just  as  mean  as  you  could  be  ever  since 
that  night  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  said  Doppy  stoutly,  "  and  I  had  a  right. 
I  always  set  out  to  treat  every  one  just  as  they  treat  me." 

"  It's  a  poor  rule  that  don't  work  both  ways.  What 
do  you  suppose  Amos  thinks  of  you  ?  " 

No  woman  wants  to  lose  her  lover's  good  opinion ;  its 
desire  in  such  matters  is  her  greatest  power  over  herself. 
Doppy  grew  uneasy.  "  He's  no  business  to  act  so.  I 
meant  to  teach  him  better.  Sure  "  (with  a  rueful  smile) 
"you've  often  said  I've  the  care  of  his  edication." 

"  If  you  haven't  taught  him  several  things  this  time, 
it's  not  your  fault."  Mollie  had  the  art  of  dealing  in 
generalities.  On  occasions  like  the  present,  she  made  a 
few  observations,  not  inapplicable,  and  left  conscience  to 
do  the  rest.  This  saved  trouble  to  all  parties.  People 
who  really  are  fit  for  advice,  must  have  already  taken 
considerable  moral  emetic.  A  trifle  more  will  usually 
set  matters  right.  There  is  another  thing  that  born  ad 
visers — some  are — do.  With  a  hand  touch  their  electric 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  451 

force  puts  them  en  rapport  with  the  sufferer,  and  their 
mere  will-power  compels  resolve.  It  isn't  the  best  way. 
Its  too  frequent  use  exhausts  the  one,  and  destroys  the 
soul  poise  of  the  other.  Mollie  was  so  afraid  of  disturb 
ing  Doppy's  identity,  that  she  loosened  her  warm  hand 
clasp,  and  sat  waiting.  She  wanted  her  protegee's  decision 
to  be  one  of  principle,  not  result  of  her  own  overpower 
ing  influence. 

"  Mary  Ellen  Heffron  looked  mighty  handsome  lean 
ing  on  his  arm,"  was  the  audible  conclusion  of  that 
damsel's  mental  struggle. 

Nothing  from  Mollie. 

"  But  I'm  sorry  I  was  so  mean  about  dancing  with 
Hugh  Croslow,  just  to  plague  Amos.  P'raps  he  couldn't 
help  payin'  her  attention,  bad  luck  to  that  same  for 
makin'  him." 

"  Mary  Ellen  Heffron  sometimes  takes  in  sewing — I 
bought  Amos  a  dozen  handkerchiefs  in  Top  Town,  but 
father's  illness — " 

"  Miss  Mollie,"  cried  Doppy,  starting  to  her  feet,  and 
setting  her  arms  akimbo,  energetic  as  hurt ;  "  if  you  give 
them  things  to  her,  I'll  just  hate  you,  so  there!  " 

The  sequel  is  easily  told.  Amos,  in  a  tumbled  and 
seedy  condition,  but  quite  unable  to  keep  away,  must 
needs  shamble  by  the  "  Solomon  Rodgers,"  whistling  very 
loud  and  looking  into  dim  distance. 

Doppy  ironing  the  last  of  the  set  in  the  "  dacent  young 
couple's  kitchen,"  glanced  out  of  the  window,  and  saw 
him.  She  had  stitched  all  her  anger  into  the  hems,  and 
made  up  her  mind  that  to  do  his  sewing  was  quite  as 
much  happiness  as  she  deserved.  At  least  it  would  make 
life  a  barely  endurable  burden.  It  wasn't  Amos's  fault 
that,  being  so  perfectly  desirable,  the  "  black  coquette  " 
would  entrap  him.  She  must  learn  to  live  without  own- 


452  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

ing  him,  it  seemed ;  but  he  should  own  her,  anyway. 
That  was  better  than  nothing.  She  would  mend  his 
clothes,  and  learn  to  exult  in  his  conquests. 

Her  face  reflected  her  changed  feeling.  Meanwhile 
Master  Daley  was  past  the  middle  of  the  opposite  house. 
Would  he  be  always  angry  ?  Would  he  refuse  the  hand 
kerchiefs  ?  Would  he  say  "  I  liked  to  take  your  work 
because  I  cared  for  you,  but  I  hate  jealous  people  and 
won't  give  up  Mary  Ellen."  But  she  was  willing  to  have 
him  like  Mary  Ellen.  He'd  see  it  if  he  looked  that  way. 
But  he  didn't  mean  to — he  should. 

"Amos!" 

Amos  just  in  the  midst  of  his  careless  tune,  thought, 
"  I  hate  her  just  as  much  as  I  did,  but  I'll  go  over  to  the 
other  side,  and  hear  what  she  has  to  say."  It  couldn't 
make  any  difference.  He  would  stare  the  other  direction 
to  show  his  unconcern,  and  tie  up  his  shoe  by  accident. 

Doppy's  courage  all  came  back  as  he  turned  toward  the 
house.  It  fell  a  little  when  he  seemed  so  sullen.  There 
was  something  dangerous  about  this  quiet,  determined, 
albeit  miserable,  mien.  He  had  let  her  pull  him  about  as 
she  pleased  so  far.  She  had  never  seen  him  in  this  guise 
before,  so  white  and  grim  at  once. 

"  Amos,"  faintly,  "  come  in,  I've  got  something  for 
you  from  Miss  McCross." 

"  I'll  take  it  through  the  window,"  with  studied  stolid 
ity,  inside  thought,  "  I  won't  have  it  patched  up.  I  ain't 
a  man  to  be  jiggled  all  the  time — seein'  she  don't  care  for 
me." 

"  No,  you  won't,"  said  Doppy,  flashing  out  at  the 
idea  that  it  was  another  woman's  influence  that  thus 
metamorphosed  "  her  boy."  "  If  you  have  taken  up  with 
that  contemptuous  Heffron  girl,  an'  so  thrown  me  over 
board  that  you  can't  pay  attention  enough  to  enter  my 


SHIFTLESS  FOLKS.  453 

doors,  you  shan't  have  'em."  Whereupon  she  did  them 
small  in  a  grab,  threw  the  bundle  at  his  head,  and  slammed 
the  window. 

Before  Amos  knew  it,  he  had  reached  the  kitchen, 
handkerchiefs  in  hand,  and,  setting  his  back  against  the 
inside  of  the  door,  exclaimed  :  "  Dorothea  Mulligan,  I 
can't  take  them  things  wid  your  work  on  'em,  an'  you 
feelin'  as  you  do." 

It  wasn't  the  anger,  though  he  was  angry,  it  was  the 
sorrowful  dignity  of  his  words  that  awed  her.  His  voice, 
deep,  and  earnest,  thrilled  her.  He  didn't  act — well,  as 
she  had  fancied  and  feared.  She  wished  he  would  show 
passion,  and  so  put  them  on  even  terms.  But  there  he 
stood  quiet,  unyielding,  resolved. 

"  Amos,  I  don't  feel  no  way,"  said  she,  nervously. 

"  I  didn't  at  first,  but  I  do  now,"  firm  as  a  rock  in 
sense  of  wrong. 

Doppy  couldn't  let  it  go  on  so.  "  I  ain't  mad,  Amos," 
imploring  him  with  tone  and  gesture.  "  If  you  like  Mary 
Ellen  best,  I  ain't  goin'  to  stand  between." 

"  I  don't  care  nothin'  for  her,"  he  answered  in  his  slow 
way,  "  but  I  think  of  my  manhood.  I  can't  be  drawed  off 
an'  on  like  a  glove,  Doppy,  or  mayhap  an  old  shoe. 
Though  there's  no  weariness  I've  not  been  proud  to  save 
your  feet.  I  must  have  my  place  all  the  time.  I'm 
awkward  and  ugly,  but  if  I've  any  value  to  you,  I  must 
hold  it  for  always,  lettin'  none  push  between." 

"  If  Amos  was  a  fool,  Doppy  wasn't.  Plainly  there 
•was  a  mistake  somewhere.  "  I  hain't  let  nobody  between. 
You  danced  wid  Mary  Ellen,  an'  oh,  Amos,  you  looked 
as  if  you  liked  it." 

Master  Duley  seeing  the  wicked  deceiver  growing  rosy, 
and  gazing  modestly  at  the  floor,  was  conscience-stricken, 
but  he  wouldn't  give  up ;  ho  had  suffered  too  much. 


454  SHIFTLESS  FOLKS. 

"  Do  you  like  me  best  ?  "  said  he,  coldly. 

"  That  depends  altogether  on  the  depth  of  your  affec 
tion  for  the  Heffron,"  said  provoking  beauty. 

But  Amos  wasn't  versed  in  the  vca^ys  of  women  or 
flirts.  He  was  refused  an  answer  to  a  plain  question. 
He  would  go — forever ;  the  sooner  the  better.  He 
dropped  the  handkerchiefs  unconsciously,  and  opened 
the  door.  "  I  despise  her,  and  I  hate — " 

"  Not  me,"  cried  Doppy,  rushing  at  him,  dragging 
him  back,  and  jamming  the  latch  fast,  all  in  a  breath. 
"  Now  sit  down,  Amos.  Was  there  ever  such  a  man ! 
Of  course  you're  first.  I  thought  you  knew  it." 


THE   END. 


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